Indian cricket's legendary off spinner Harbhajan Singh has a personal story that reads like a Bollywood script. The bowler whose spin troubled the world's best batters for years fell for actress Geeta Basra in a manner just as dramatic as his cricket, and while his career kept getting pulled into major controversies, his romance with Geeta kept moving forward until the two eventually got married.
A song on television that changed everything
The story goes back to a time when Harbhajan was in London. One day he watched the song Woh Ajnabi from the film The Train on television. He was so struck by actress Geeta Basra, who appeared in the song, that he decided right then that he had to meet her.
A call to Yuvraj Singh, then a message that went unanswered
To find out more about Geeta, Harbhajan called his close friend and fellow cricketer Yuvraj Singh from London. He then used his contacts in Bollywood to get hold of Geeta's phone number. As soon as he had it, he messaged her and invited her for coffee. Geeta, who was born in Portsmouth in Britain, did not take the star bowler's message seriously at the time and never replied.
The T20 World Cup win became the turning point
The one sided chase changed only after Team India became T20 World Cup champions. Following that win, Geeta herself called Harbhajan to congratulate him, and that call opened the door to conversation between the two. Harbhajan then invited Geeta to watch an IPL match, but she did not turn up, leaving him disappointed. Even so, the friendship between them kept growing stronger.
Rejected the first time, married after 7 years
When Harbhajan proposed marriage to Geeta for the first time, she turned him down, citing her Bollywood career. But Harbhajan was not the kind to give up easily. He stayed in touch with Geeta, and after nearly 7 years of dating, the two finally got married in October 2015. The couple now has two children, daughter Hinaya Heer and son Jovan Veer Singh.
When the cricket field turned into a storm centre
While Harbhajan and Geeta were growing closer, his name on the field was getting tied to some of the biggest controversies in Indian cricket history. Geeta Basra once said in an interview that Harbhajan may look tough and stern on the outside, but he is soft hearted at his core. Still, that aggressive streak on the field led to more than one storm.
During the Sydney Test of the 2008 Australia series, Harbhajan Singh got into a heated argument with Australian all rounder Andrew Symonds. The Australian team accused Harbhajan of making a racial remark, calling Symonds a monkey. The row escalated so much that cricketing ties between India and Australia were put at stake, and Harbhajan was even handed a temporary ban.
The slap that cost Sreesant a whole season
Around the same period, during the first season of the IPL, Harbhajan Singh crossed every line of discipline. After a match, he slapped bowler S. Sreesant on the field, and Sreesant was seen crying live on camera afterwards. Harbhajan was banned for the entire season over the incident and faced heavy criticism.
Geeta's arrival brought a change, and an apology
As time passed and Geeta Basra came into his life, Harbhajan grew visibly more mature. Owning up to his mistake, he publicly expressed regret over the Sreesant episode, saying, "What happened was wrong. I made a mistake that left both my teammate and me embarrassed." Geeta, too, kept holding up a mirror to him. As Harbhajan himself put it, "Geeta always gives me an honest opinion of where I am going wrong."
Retired with 417 Test wickets to his name
Harbhajan Singh retired from international cricket in December 2022. He finished his career with 417 wickets in Test cricket and 269 wickets in ODIs.
