‘The hat-trick wasn’t mine alone. It belonged to the whole team’ – Harbhajan Singh

That entire Kolkata match was something else. I’d say it was the turning point of my career, and it gave the whole team belief.

A lot had happened before that, especially with the match-fixing scandal. People had lost faith. To bring them back to the ground, you can only do it through matches like this. When you’re down, when you’ve struggled for four days and then fight back to win — that’s what restores belief.

From that moment, I felt we had proved our mettle. After that, I don’t think we ever looked back. Everyone who played in that match saw their confidence go from one to 10.

As a team and as individuals, we realised we could beat any side in the world. If we could win from that kind of situation, there was no lack of ability. We just needed to build the habit of playing and winning matches like that. That match gave us that belief.

Australia were a formidable side. To first avoid the follow-on and then come back to win from there — it became a story that grew into something much bigger.

Today, when we talk to someone who didn’t watch that match, it almost sounds unbelievable. Like it can’t be real. It feels like a film script — and in that film, we were all playing our roles.

I don’t think I have played a better Test match or watched better Test cricket after that. People later debated which matches were better, but among the Tests or series I played in, that was the best.

To beat a great team, we played exactly the kind of cricket you need to play. The match went deep into the fifth day. It was decided in the final session, in the last 20 minutes. That suspense, that thrill.

I vividly remember my hat-trick dismissals.

Ricky Ponting was trapped in front. He went for a cross-batted shot.

Adam Gilchrist was also LBW — we had put a bit of thought into it. He was always ready to sweep. The idea was to bowl slightly shorter so he had to play off the back foot.

I basically had two kinds of deliveries for him: very full, or slightly slower. If it was outside off, he would sweep towards midwicket. If it was on the pads, he would sweep it square, towards square leg.

So the plan was to make him play off the back foot. On the first day, there wasn’t much bounce. Even Mark Waugh’s caught-behind dismissal had only a little extra bounce. The ball to Gilchrist didn’t bounce much either. We used the shiny side to make it skid. It hit the pad — and he was out.

And the ball to Shane Warne was simply full and straight at the stumps.

In those days, there was no DRS. Even if it was slightly outside off, players would just pad it away knowing it wouldn’t be reviewed. So I thought: If I bowled it slightly outside off with flight, he might just pad it away. So, I’ll bowl it full, right at the stumps. He can’t leave it.

It wasn’t the perfect delivery for a hat-trick. But in life, nothing is perfect.

The catch that gave me the hat-trick, though, was definitely perfect. (SS) Ramesh took the best catch of his life. I don’t think he ever took a better one.

People gave me a lot of credit, but Ramesh deserves just as much. If he hadn’t taken that catch, the hat-trick wouldn’t have happened.

The hat-trick wasn’t mine alone. It belonged to the whole team.

That kind of momentum carried through the match, and we finished it well.

Ramesh didn’t ask for any reward. He just told me, “Take me out for dinner.”

And I still haven’t taken him. (laughs)

(As told to Vijay Lokapally)

Published on Mar 16, 2026