Turbanator talks tough

13 April 2012

The Turbanator lives at an Indian address more Tony Hancock than Arnold Schwarzenegger.

A number and street name is followed beguilingly by 'Behind Railways Goods Shed, Jalandhar City, Punjab'.

It is the postal address of Harbhajan Singh. He wrote it down on a piece of paper for me so that he, his mother and five sisters could be sent a copy of this article.

From the back of the sheds has emerged not Hancock's blood donor but the cricket equivalent of an Arnie blood-spiller, a slow bowler with several quick kills already in his portfolio, including a hat-trick against the Aussies.

Singh, 21, clearly loves the nickname penned by the Australian media as his 32 wickets in three Tests last March brought a rare series defeat for the highestranked international team.

Singh said: 'Turbanator is great, but I get a lot of teasing about it in the dressing room.'

We met at Centurion Park yesterday during a rain delay on the fourth day of the non-Test between South Africa and India under strict instructions from the touring manager, Dr MK Bhargawa, that the controversy threatening to tear cricket apart be given the widest berth. But you cannot muzzle a good, youthful, plainspeaking rebel with a sense of injustice and trendy black turban.

'I was not that bad in the second Test,' insisted Singh. 'That's the way I appeal. It is the way we appeal. It made me upset, it made everyone in our team upset. We still are.' Those were the first public comments from any of the six Indian players on which the former England captain Mike Denness, in his capacity as match referee at Port Elizabeth, imposed fines and suspended bans.

Ordered by the Indian Board to say nothing, the players have adopted a fortress mentality assisted greatly by the creation of a fortress in the stadium. The dressing rooms lie behind high, spiked railings to be unlocked only with the words: 'I am from the ICC. I declare this Test official.'

Singh, once expelled from the National Cricket Academy at Bangalore for disciplinary reasons, was characteristically one of those to fall foul of Denness. And far from exhibiting contrition, the physically imposing off- spinner hinted at possible attrition in the coming series against England.

He said: 'The secret of us beating Australia was playing aggressive cricket. Australia play very hard. We had to play hard. If they were aggressive, we were aggressive, too. It is part of the game. If England are aggressive, we will also be aggressive. I know how to behave, but there is a secret to my bowling well. If they are aggressive, I am, too. I can't just take, I have to give. But I won't be that bad.'

It was almost as if the word was as carefully chosen as the twinkle in his normally steely eyes was perfectly timed. Singh has, with growing maturity, tried to rid himself of the reputation of being the bad boy of Indian cricket. He added: 'You have to be a good human being. I'm always good to everyone except, of course, opposing batsmen.' That twinkle again.

The events of the past couple of weeks could result in India having a few points to prove against England. Singh said: 'The world knows we can play good cricket, but after what has happened here we are determined to show what we can do against England. Our Board is helping us. We, in turn, have to play well on the field.'

Singh has failed to reproduce his scintillating form against Australia on subsequent tours, so he is looking forward to a first series at home since then. It will also be his first sight of English batsmen, of whom he appears to remain blissfully ignorant. He said: 'I think Nasser (Hussain) batted well in Pakistan and Sri Lanka. And they played well against Shane Warne. What do you call him - Trescothick? He's good, too.'

Marcus Trescothick, and the other England batsmen, will have to be if they are to overcome the twin spin threat of Singh and Anil Kumble. Singh added: 'The people of the Punjab recognise me and love me and want me to bowl well. I have always been mad for bowling. When I was 14, I would bowl six hours in a day, always at a single stump. That really helped me. I suppose I will be a national hero if I can do to England what I did to Australia.'

The postman will then be delivering more than twice to 'Behind Railways Goods Shed'.

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