Harbhajan Singh has taken 150 wickets in IPL. (Source: IPL)Chennai Super Kings off-spinner Harbhajan Singh became the third Indian to claim 150 or more wickets in the history of Indian Premier League (150). The right-armer achieved the feat during the second qualifier against Delhi Capitals at r. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam.
DC’s Amit Mishra with 157 wickets in 147 matches and KKR’s Piyush Chawla, with 150 wickets in 157 matches, are the only two other Indians who have reached the mark.
Singh, who had 148 wickets prior to the start of the match, dismissed DC’s Shikhar Dhawan (18) in the sixth over, and followed it up with the wicket of Shrefane Rutherford for 10, in the 16th over. The bowler finished with figures of 31/2 in his four overs as DC finished at 147/9 in 20 overs.
Speaking after the innings, Harbhajan said: “This is a different format from the ones I have played in the past, and I have 150 odd wickets in this format, which is very satisfying. I’m competing with the young guys and going along just the way I have always gone about my bowling. This year I have got a lot of wickets, mainly because we played in Chennai which suited spinners a bit more.”
“I bowled a lot of overs in the powerlay which is really tough in IPL, but if there is something in the wicket, then Dhoni wanted me to bowl in the powerplay and pick quick wickets. The last two hits by Ishant, I never thought he’d be able to hit the ball like that. I think with 147 on the board, we need to bat well to defend it, just need to bat the way we have normally batted, maybe a little better than that (laughs),” he added.
In the chase, both Shane Watson and Faf du Plessis scored fifties each as CSK chased down the total with 6 wickets and 1 over in hand to reach the final.
