Harbhajan, who was bought by KKR in the 2021 Auction for Rs 2 Cr, had played for Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians in the past. Singh, 40, had pulled out of last year’s IPL, when he was part of the Chennai Super Kings, because of “personal reasons” and had said, “family takes precedence over sport”. He said he felt more confident now about being in a bubble because the IPL is back in India and people “have now got used to the new normal”. The Turbanator will turn 41 this July but his child-like enthusiasm about the very game that he has been playing for over two decades has left many in the KKR camp floored, former KKR captain Dinesh Karthik is one of them.
“Picking him I think wasn’t easy, considering that he has been around for so long. But the amount of interest and intensity he has shown in the last one week is just fabulous. He has been coming to practice sessions early, much ahead of all other players! And he has been doing it consistently! I think he is a different man now from whatever little I have seen of him this week,” Karthik said during one of the KKR practice matches at DY Patil Stadium.
“He is bowling in the match and also fielding all 20 overs. That’s about as much as you can ask for from a man of his stature! He has achieved everything. Yet to show this kind of interest at this stage of his career speaks volumes of him as a character. I am sure he will do a great job for KKR,” Karthik added.
Meanwhile, KKR is currently gearing up for their opening match of IPL 2021 against Sunrisers Hyderabad, scheduled for April 11, in Chennai.
