Harbhajan spins back from oblivion

He's the original comeback kid of Indian cricket.

In 1999, off-spinner Harbhajan Singh was heading towards oblivion, with a suspect bowling action and a bad attitude.

Barely two years later, he has bounced back with a 32-wicket series haul and a test hat-trick, the first ever by an Indian, against Australia.

His success has surprised the 20-year-old from Jalandhar, in Punjab, as much as anyone.

Not only did he lift India's sagging cricketing fortunes but his man-of-the-series effort also helped end Australia's world-record run of 16 straight test wins.

"I did not think I'd do this well and get 32 wickets in the series but I guess it's my hard work and support from my family that has made it possible," he said after India clinched the series 2-1 against Steve Waugh's side on Thursday.

DREAM TURNS SOUR

Singh, the fifth youngest Indian to play test cricket, made his debut over three years ago against Australia in Bangalore.

It wasn't sensational, but cricket pundits saw Singh helping to fill a vacuum after the retirement of India's 1970s spin quartet -- Bishan Singh Bedi, Erapalli Prasanna, Srinivas Venkatraghavan and Bhagwat Chandrasekhar.

They also saw him as an ideal foil for leg-spinner Anil Kumble, a proven match-winner on slow pitches at home.

But it didn't take long for the dream to turn sour.

In 1998, Singh was suspended for one match in the Sharjah one-day tournament after he clashed with Australian batsman Ricky Ponting.

Two years and eight tests after his debut, Singh was reported for a suspect action and, last year, expelled from the National Cricket Academy because of indiscipline.

His career nosedived. Many felt the early adulation had gone to Singh's head.

Corrective action on his bowling followed under former England off-spinner Fred Titmus but it wasn't until his father's death last year that Singh's attitude changed.

"My father's death shattered me and my family. It was then that I realised I had to work hard and achieve the goal I had set for myself," he said.

DREAM COMEBACK

With Kumble ruled out because of a shoulder injury and the spin cupboard almost bare, Singh was recalled against Australia.

Having worked on his action and his variations in domestic cricket, he took four Australian first-innings wickets in the Bombay first test before Adam Gilchrist set up victory with a counter-attacking century.

Singh, however, provided a huge boost to his struggling team mates when he took a hat-trick -- including Gilchrist's wicket for a duck -- in Australia's first innings in the Calcutta second test.

Bowling fast off-breaks to an unrelenting off-stump line and extracting bounce from slow pitches, he finished with a match-winning haul of 13 for 196 in Calcutta before improving it to 15 for 217 in the Madras decider.

To cap his change in fortune, he also hit the winning runs to clinch the series.

While Singh thanked Kumble and coach John Wright for guiding him back, the plaudits rained in.

"It is a stupendous performance. Magnificent. It is also remarkable because he has taken three successive seven-wicket hauls," former test off-spinner Prasanna told Reuters.

Prasanna said he had suggested Singh work on a more side-on action.

"For a good off-spinner, length is mandatory and the line is optional. He has done that well and mixed his straighter and turning deliveries."

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