Suresh Raina names player feared by Australia the most and it is NOT Virat Kohli

Suresh Raina was one of the most important members of the Indian team not long ago. Suresh Raina was also a vital cog in India's 2011 World Cup triumph. But since the last three years, Suresh Raina has fallen out of favour from the Indian team. The southpaw is struggling to get back into the Indian team and it seems like his international career is in its twilight.

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Amidst the coronavirus pandemic, all the cricketing activities are suspended. This has led to players resorting to social media to interact with fans. Suresh Raina has been a part of several Instagram live sessions where has spoken on different topics. Recently, the southpaw was involved in one such Instagram live session with former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan.

Suresh Raina speaks on Harbhajan Singh's impact on Australian team

One of the topics talked upon was off-spinner Harbhajan Singh's impact on the Australian team. Suresh Raina went on to name Harbhajan Singh as the player who was feared the most by Australia, who were the world champions for a large part of the spinner's career. Harbhajan Singh is an animated character who plays his cricket with utmost passion. He never shies away from giving the opponent a taste of their own medicine. 

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Harbhajan Singh rose to prominence courtesy his performance against Australia during the historic 2001 Test series at home where he claimed 32 wickets in India's comeback 2-1 win. That series kickstarted the intense rivalry between Harbhajan Singh and Australia for the next 10 years as the 'Turbanator', through his bowling skills and sometimes due to his antics, consistently got under the skin of the Australian team. Irfan Pathan said that Harbhajan Singh was one of the legends of the game and termed him as the best off-spinner in the world. He added that the CSK spinner is a legend who has played 100 Test matches.

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Suresh Raina agreed by calling Harbhajan Singh a 'fighter', who also won Team India matches in Australia. He added that Australians always used to stay away from Harbhajan Singh. The 39-year-old played a total of 18 Test matches against Australia during his career in which he claimed a total of 95 wickets, including that famous hat-trick in 2001, at an average of 29.95. 

The claim does not come as a surprise since recently, an Australian newspaper branded Harbhajan Singh an 'Indian villain' for calling Australia 'bad losers' in a recent Instagram live chat with Ravichandran Ashwin. Harbhajan has claimed on several occasions that during the infamous 'Monkeygate' scandal in the 2007-08 series in Australia, he was hounded wherever he went, making him the "Enemy No.1'' amongst Australian crowds during his peak.

Harbhajan Singh is the highest wicket-taker in Test cricket among active Indian cricketers. The off-spinner is the third-highest wicket-taker in the longest format of the game in the history of Indian cricket with 417 wickets in 103 Tests.

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IMAGE COURTESY: CSK TWITTER