Ricky Ponting used to get out just looking at my face, jokes Harbhajan Singh

Ricky Ponting ended his Test career as one of the greatest batsmen in the game’s history, with over 13,000 runs and 41 centuries to his name, but his career has, however,  continued to remain scarred by his record in India - an average of 26 with just a solitary ton in 14 matches. This includes the infamous tour of India in 2000/01, where the Tasmanian averaged a hideous 3.40 across three Tests and one of the villains responsible for Ponting’s misery in the sub-continent nation was off-spinner Harbhajan Singh. 

For over a decade, starting from 2000 to 2010, the off-spinner tormented the former Aussie skipper with the ball, and speaking to his Mumbai Indians teammate Rohit Sharma in an instagram chat, Harbhajan joked how he would get Ponting out by just staring at the Aussie. The duo of Ponting and Harbhajan eventually ended up as teammates in Mumbai Indians and the Indian off-spinner recalled how he got the former out five to six times even whilst bowling in the nets.

“I think Ricky Ponting used to get out just by looking at my face. I didn’t even need to bowl at him. When he came to play for Mumbai Indians, I thought he would improve after playing me in the nets. But even there I got him out 5-6 times,” Harbhajan to Rohit, when asked who his bunny was. 

Ironically, that campaign ended up delivering MI their first ever title, with Rohit Sharma at the helm. However, the campaign was a jittery one for Ponting with the bat, with him scoring just 52 runs in 5 innings, and Rohit sarcastically blamed Harbhajan for denting the confidence of the Australian. 

“I think you dented his confidence even before the series started bhajju paa.. Now I know why he couldn’t score runs that season,” Rohit told Harbhajan.