There exist a few who grow younger as they age. Our latest recruit Harbhajan Singh is certainly one of them!

The Turbanator will turn 41 this July but his child-like enthusiasm about the very game that he has been playing for over two decades has left many in the KKR camp floored – our vice-captain Dinesh Karthik being one of them!

Harbhajan, who was bought in the 2021 Auction for Rs 2 Cr, had played for Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians in the past. To have him don the Purple & Gold was in itself a matter of pleasant surprise for many. But it seems, Harbhajan has more surprises in store for us!

“Picking him I think wasn’t easy, considering that he has been around for so long. But the amount of interest and intensity he has shown in the last one week is just fabulous. He has been coming to practice sessions early, much ahead of all other players! And he has been doing it consistently! I think he is a different man now from whatever little I have seen of him this week,” Karthik said during one of the KKR practice matches at DY Patil Stadium.

Harbhajan has mostly been known for his bowling skills but it looks like there is little he wants to leave out when it comes to improving as a batter, going into the season. He has been coming to even optional training sessions ahead of time and batting his heart out!

“Even in a practice game that starts at 7 PM, he had come at 4 O’clock! He was batting before that, he bowled to Shakib (Al Hasan) and (Eoin) Morgan, and then did his stretching again before getting into the practice game.

“He is bowling in the match and also fielding all 20 overs. That’s about as much as you can ask for from a man of his stature!  He has achieved everything. Yet to show this kind of interest at this stage of his career speaks volumes of him as a character. I am sure he will do a great job for KKR,” Karthik added.

KKR are currently gearing up for their opening match of IPL 2021 against Sunrisers Hyderabad, scheduled for April 11, in Chennai.