Veteran Indian cricketer, Harbhajan Singh has always been known for his wily off-spin bowling prowess. He has left a lot of batsmen guessing with his ‘doosras’ and is one of the best spinners India has ever produced. While he bamboozled most of the batsmen, the player also found himself at the receiving end during his first England tour.
In a recent episode of ‘What The Duck’ hosted by Vikram Sathaye, Harbhajan recalled that he managed to do well on the field, but his struggles with the English language continued. Once a reporter asked Bhajji if he had completed his graduation. A very innocent Harbhajan thought the reporter asked him about his reservation.
Harbhajan replied, “Haan sir, reservation ho gayi hai. Mai nikal ja raha hoon (yes sir, I have got reservation done and I am going tomorrow).”
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The flamboyant off-spinner was not the only player who had his struggles with English on the tour. Former Indian cricketer, Mohammad Kaif also recalled how tough it was for him to get along with the language in England. He recalled an incident when he was expected to be well-mannered in his tone while asking for the room keys at the hotel. He couldn’t able to converse with the receptionist and had to take help of his roommate.
Kaif recalled, “In England those days, you had to hand over the keys of your room to the reception desk and then collect it when you return. One day after I returned to the hotel, I went to the receptionist and said–key—signaling her to return my keys. However, she asked me to say ‘may I have the keys, please’.”
He further added, “I repeated ‘key please’ but she kept on urging me to say ‘may I have the keys please’. Finally, I went to my room partner and asked him to collect it saying I was not able to understand her.”
Earlier in another episode, former Indian opener, Virender Sehwag had also spoken about the same struggle. He had remarked that he feels Sachin Tendulkar and Harbhajan Singh along with him are very lucky. They are lucky to have wives who are well versed in the English language.
Viru recalled, “Bhajji, Tendulkar and I are very intelligent as we have wives who speak in English. They taught us and they’ll teach our kids also.”
Watch the full video here:
