For the thirty-year-old from Jalandhar, one of the most eligible bachelors in Punjab, 2010 will always be very, very special. He is after all the only Test player in the world to bat at no. 8 and hit a back-to-back century in two consecutive Test matches - a record which will be tough to break. Tail-enders are generally specialist bowlers, who occasionally score a gritty half-century or who, sometimes, occupy the crease for a long time to give the batsman at the other end a chance to hit out. But the emergence of Harbhajan Singh, the all-rounder, did not come as a surprise, claims the Indian cricket captain M.S. Dhoni.

“I have always believed Bhajji is very good with the bat. He plays some incredible shots. It’s just a matter of concentrating a little more on his batting...like I have said in the past, if Bhajji continues to contribute with the bat, I can seriously think about going into a Test with five bowlers,” says Dhoni. But Bhajji remains rooted to the ground. “Of course, with my second straight century I showed that my first century was not a freak innings. But I’m not thinking about a hat-trick of centuries. I understand that my role is of a spinner first. All the runs that I score are a bonus,” he told The Tribune at Nagpur, where at one time on Tuesday morning, his analysis read 3 wickets for 9 runs.

He has not always been flamboyant though. Indeed when his father late Sardev Singh first brought the 14-year-old to the BCCI-run Cricket Academy at Chandigarh in 1994, he would rarely speak. Recalls D.P. Azad, “He was sitting in my room at the Cricket Centre in Sector 16 and he never looked up, not even once. All the while his eyes were fixed on the floor. It is funny to see how he has changed!”

It was the first time Harbhajan had left home and Jalandhar, his father told Azad. “Now that he is going to stay here, please make him feel at home,” requested the doting dad. Azad recalls taking an instant liking to the boy’s ability to flight the ball and the loop, bounce and turn that he could extract. “Immediately I knew the guy had it in him,” recalls the indulgent coach who had mentored Kapil Dev as well.

For the next three years Harbhajan stayed in Chandigarh and developed a lasting affinity with the City Beautiful. He has a few business interests in the city including a hair and styling place in Sector 11 in partnership with Sylvie. More recently he is learnt to have bought some residential property in Sector 9, which is said to be his favourite area in the city. He also has a stake in the newest venture, something that goes by the name of Dare Club.

As luck would have it, the West Indian cricket team was in Chandigarh to play a Test match at Mohali and they needed some good spinners to bowl to them in the nets. “The West Indians saw this slim sardar bowling off-spin and requested me to send him to their nets. Harbhajan was a hit with their batsmen. They were completely non-plussed by his flight and turn as he beat them in the air and off the wicket,” recalls Azad.

Both MP Pandove (now BCCI joint secretary) and Azad spotted his talent and helped him to grow into the big league. Bhajji’s Ranji debut was sensational, where he grabbed 12 wickets in the match and 32 wickets in the season. From there on, it was a whirl of events for Harbhajan - into the North Zone team, performing superbly in the India Under-19 World Cup in South Africa and, finally making his Test debut against Australia in 1998.

Azad recalls writing on the blackboard the words “Boys or Men ?” He would tell the trainees that talent alone was not enough. They had to be tough , both physically and mentally, if they wanted to grow into men. Bhajji later acknowledged that the words had a profound influence on him.

But apart from Azad and Pandove, Bhajji also owes a lot to Davinder Arora - his bowling coach at the Burlton Park in Jalandhar. “We knew that he had to develop a new weapon in his bowling if he had to succeed at the highest level. That’s how the doosra came about. He really worked very hard on that one - pressing the thumb consistently on the ball to give it that upward surge. Most days that thumb hurt badly,’ recalls Arora. (Bhajji had been out of the Indian team for almost a year then and some say there was a time when he contemplated giving up cricket altogether and going away to the US).

But the doosra brought in its wake ignominy for Bhajji as well. He was called a ‘chucker’ and was sent to England to rectify some flaws under the legendary Fred Titmus. Bhajji was to return from England a better and mature bowler.

The boisterous bowler has also been in the news for his mercurial temper both off and on the field. His resounding slap on Shenta’s (Sreesanth’s pet name) face was also the costliest slap in sporting history pegging back Harbhajan’s finances by approximately Rs 3.5 crore. (He was suspended for 11 matches and lost out on the match fees) . It also postponed his plans of buying “his baby” (the Hummer) by one year. Subsequently, Harbhajan did buy his Hummer and, again was at the centre of another controversy, when he drove through Chandigarh without a registration number.

Bhajji incurred the wrath of the Sikh clergy for letting his hair down in a Royal Stag advert and elsewhere, Sachin Tendulkar personally had to bail him out of the Symonds ‘monkeygate’ hearing. Even today, the Aussie players firmly believe that it was Sachin’s standing that helped Bhajji get away with just a fine.

This writer has had the privilege of speaking to the Turbanator in diverse places - from the ICC awards ceremony in Johannesburg to the Test victory in Sabina Park Kingston, Jamaica. One thing has always stood out: his knack of proving people wrong. “Greg (coach Greg Chappell) did not want Rahul to bring me on. He wanted the pacers. But once I got the ball for one over from Rahul, I knew I had to deliver quickly (he went on to claim four wickets in five overs to seal that Test),” Bhajji said after bowling India to victory in Sabina Park in 2006.

“On most occasions, I have been largely misunderstood,” said Bhajji. “Like that incident with the cameraman at the Bangalore airport. I never hit him. Like with Symonds, I never abused him. Like with Shenta and the advertisement and ramp thing. I never intend to do anything wrong, ”

In fact his friends do swear by him. He is warm, friendly and down-to-earth, they say. Bhajji is still very thick and intimate with his Ranji pals from the state team (Punjab). “Whenever he is free, Bhajji comes with us and we have a great time. He is a very genuine guy,” says a Punjab Ranji player. “He is also very helpful and has not forgotten the early days in his career.”

With his latest heroics, Bhajji has demonstrated that he can be much more than a champion off-spinner. But, what the team really needs him to be is ‘Turbanator’ - tormenting batsmen with his spin. Otherwise, there could be the danger of going down the Irfan Pathan way. For the moment though, Bhajji can do no wrong.