Harbhajan Singh’s wife, Geeta Basra on his retirement: Emotional day for us, but you’ll see him in some role in the IPL – Exclusive! – Times of India

Harbhajan Singh, a favourite spinner of this journalist who is a cricket buff, has called it a day as a player from all formats of the game. Millions of his fans are sad, as is his wife Geeta Basra. But as they say, good things and bad things, they all come to an end one day.

Talking to ETimes -FIRST & EXCLUSIVE- a few minutes ago, Geeta said that the retirement is not a spontaneous decision. “We knew it was coming. It was well thought of. He knew what he was doing. He felt that he’s done as a player. The motivation to play the game had diminished. The skills are all there- remember he won 3 consecutive Man of the Match awards playing for Chennai Super Kings in 2019, which isn‘t too long ago – it’s just that these things you aren’t told by anybody. Your inner voice tells you, ‘Do you want to continue or not?’ So yeah, just in case you’re thinking whether any chat with any cricketer happened at the last minute before he hung up his boots, no, it did not. It was entirely his own decision.”

For those who’ve come in late, Geeta had spoken to us only a few weeks back. Watch the full interview here :

Coming back to Harbhajan’s decision, Geeta revealed that Bhajji (as he is fondly called) will not disappear from the cricket scene. “He has been doing commentary for the past five years, which will continue I guess. Plus, you will see him in some role in the IPL.”

Naturally, Harbhajan will be spending a lot of time with his two kids now – more than otherwise. Happily endorsing this, Geeta does not rule out some business venture(s) in future. “One chapter ends in life, another begins,” she says.

Geeta gets emotional in the end and concludes, “Bhajji will play in the leagues abroad, but it is definitely sad that I won’t see him playing for India or an IPL team again. My best memory of him on the field remains the India Vs Pakistan semi-final 2011 World Cup encounter at Mohali. Otherwise, I didn’t travel with him regularly or frequently; yes we were dating since 2008 when he was active as a player- but in those days, girlfriends and wives were not allowed. The modern team of today has modern rules. I did travel with him for some amount of time though, but only in the IPL.

So of course, nevertheless, it’s a very sad, emotional day for us. But he’s a strong guy. He has had his share of ups and downs. But being there for 23 years in the thick of things is no ordinary feat.”