Skipper Harbhajan Singh of Punjab, who is keen to return to the national team, marked his presence with a sensational 6-wicket haul to oust Odisha for 205 in their first innings of a Group A Ranji Trophy match on the opening day at the Punjab Cricket Association stadium on Sunday.
Remarkably, Harbhajan produced a magnificent display of spin bowling to score 28.2-12-54-6. The 33-year-old led from the front and proved once again that he is still aggressive as he took the wickets of Girjia Rout (scored 38), Govind Podder (scored 42), Biplab Samantray (scored 30), Halhadar Das (scored 0), Alok Mangaraj (scored 4) and Dhiraj Singh (scored 0).
No doubt, Harbhajan Singh's 6-wicket haul will definitely place him in a good position, when the selectors meet to pick the team for the two-match Test series against the West Indies, which is supposed to be played next month.
Notably, Jiwanjot Singh (scored 6) as well as R Inder Singh (scored 5) were spotted at the crease as Punjab reached 11 for no loss at the draw of stumps. Previously, Harbhajan decided to field first with his exploits. Then, he was supported by pacers Sandeep Sharma (2/49) and Siddarth Kaul (1/38).
In fact, Kaul hit first when he sent opener Natraj Behera to the pavilion in the 15th over to bring down Odisha to 47 for one. Subsequently, Sandeep added up more agony on the visitors, when he ran out N Behera in the 31st over with the scoreboard showing 66 for two.
Further, Harbhajan spelled his magic as he ousted the opener Rout, before the India spinner struck in the 58th over by dismissing Samantray, who was caught behind by Uday Kaul.
Anyway, he continued to make the game difficult for the visitors, who looked down the barrel when Podder too was sent to the pavilion by Harbhajan in the 70th over.
On the other side, Abhilash Mallick attempted to held on to one side with a hard-fought 110-ball 32. However, Odisha was unable to stop on the slide and was ultimately made to depart in 83.2 overs.
The brief score says that:
Odisha scored 205 all out in 83.2 overs in the 1st innings (GB Podder 42; Harbhajan Singh 6/54).
