Shikhar Dhawan and Harbhajan Singh exchange anecdotes while quizzing each other at a promotional event.
Laughing at oneself is a rare gift. Imagine two peppy Punjabis indulging in it. When Harbhajan Singh and Shikhar Dhawan were quizzing each other for Puma Cricket Studio, a five-episode series, teasing out those delicious secrets, they were sharing with us the most endearing part of themselves.
The two had done their homework so meticulously that even journalists would be embarrassed. Certainly, Harbhajan did. How else does he know that Dhawan’s wife, Ayesha, is a kickboxer? Dhawan did admit that it was daunting to face Ayesha if he hadn’t scored in two-three games.
Bhajji was at his witty best. “Who among us is the most popular with women?” he asked Dhawan. Before Dhawan could answer, Harbhajan forewarned, “Don’t you mention my name!” The two concluded that Yuvraj Singh was the incontestable choice as the favourite ladies’ man.
There was more. Did you know that Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard wore masks and disguised as robbers in the IPL’s second edition in South Africa? Or that Glenn Maxwell is the most entertaining cricketer in the Mumbai Indians dressing room? Or that a 14-year-old Bhajji would make full use of the fog and hide behind the sightscreen in order to avoid laps of the ground?
How could they not discuss Dhawan’s moustache ever pointing north? Dhawan felt that he was merely keeping up with the tradition of being part of Punjabi family.
Not that the conversation lacked the sprinkling of cricket. Dhawan asked Harbhajan which was his best dismissal ever. “Steve Waugh in the 2001 Chennai Test,” Bhajji answered.
“Tab main phelwan tha, sukda tha, ab mota ho gaya hoon (I was strong and lean back then but I’ve put on now).”
Dhawan may be just one Test old, but surely he must have been initiated to a bit of sledging. Isn’t that inevitable when you play the Aussies? “I was reluctant to take first strike because I was playing my first Test. But David Warner, at slip, didn’t cease to remind me about it. I was then determined to prove myself.”
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