Saqlain Mushtaq’s doosra aided me: Harbhajan Singh

India’s former off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, in a YouTube interview on Wednesday, revealed that Pakistan’s former off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq’s doosra aided him in getting into the national team.

Singh praised Mushtaq for his skills as a bowler while referring to him as a match-winner for his side.

“There weren’t many bowlers who bowled the doosra back then,” Harbhajan said. “Saqlain Mushtaq was one such bowler. He was immense, a match-winner for his team. Even if he was bowling the last over and you needed only four runs, you’d think he won’t let you score them. So it was that doosra that got me into the Indian team,” Singh said.

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The 39-year-old revealed how the doosra received its name which was a direct result of wicketkeeper-batsman Moin Khan’s conversation with Mushtaq.

“No one else bowled the doosra in India, which pitched and turned away from the batsman and that delivery of mine was, I think, better than the ones bowled by other off-spinners. I used to call it leg-cutter but it came to be known as the doosra because Moin [Khan] would shout from behind the stumps, asking Saqlain to bowl doosra (the other one). And that’s how it got famous,” he said.

The off-spinner represented India in 103 Tests, 236 One-day Internationals (ODIs) and 28 Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) while picking up 417 wickets, 269 wickets and 25 wickets, respectively, in each format.