Harbhajan Singh turns 37: From Geeta Basra to Sachin Tendulkar, birthday wishes flow for 'Turbanator'

Veteran Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh turned 37 on Monday. The bowling great was just 17-years-old when he made his Test debut against Australia at Bengaluru in 1998. Since then the ace spinner has went on to represent India in 103 Test matches, picking up 417 wickets and is currently the third highest wicket-taker in the country. In 2001, he became the first Indian bowler to pick a hat-trick in Test cricket.

Along with excelling in the longer format, he has scalped 269 wickets in 236 ODI appearances and 25 wickets in 28 T20Is at a meager economy of 6.20. The spinner from Punjab has been a vital part of Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Mumbai Indians — being part of three successful campaigns (2013, 2015, 2017) — and is one of  the few players to have played for the same franchise since the inception of the cash-rich league.

Besides his bowling exploits, Harbhajan is an able lower-order batsmen who has two test tons and has made numerous important contributions in limited-overs format.

The Indian bowling genius is known as ‘Turbanator’ in the cricketing world, while his teammates affectionately call him ‘Bhajji’. Family, friends and fans took to social media to wish India’s most successful off spinner on his special day.

He's scored 3,569 runs and taken 711 wickets across all three formats for India, happy birthday to @harbhajan_singh! pic.twitter.com/FgKbnmtj8t

— ICC (@ICC) July 3, 2017

Happy burrdayyyy Pati Dev.. love you 😘❤️🎉🍰🌹👋👏🍺 #bestlifepartner #soulmate #birthdayboy… https://t.co/NKz6wWEoEU

— Geeta Basra (@Geeta_Basra) July 2, 2017

Many many happy returns bhajju pa have a greatest year. Best Regards to the family @harbhajan_singh

— Rohit Sharma (@ImRo45) July 3, 2017

Hpy B'day @harbhajan_singh
Frm thinking of going to Canada & bcum a truck driver to support family,to bcmng 1 of d best bowlers,grt journey pic.twitter.com/o12qAeQmc4

— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) July 3, 2017

Happy birthday little bro, @harbhajan_singh!! Wish you loads of happiness and success. pic.twitter.com/oyxiAYbP8z

— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) July 3, 2017

Warm birthday wishes to TURBANATOR @harbhajan_singh ! Remember this brilliant hat-trick against the Aussies? Relive that magical moment! pic.twitter.com/XTZoFjfFhl

— Vijay Goel (@VijayGoelBJP) July 3, 2017

Wish you a very happy birthday @harbhajan_singh #SpinLegend

— Mithali Raj (@M_Raj03) July 3, 2017

Here's wishing 'The Turbanator' @harbhajan_singh very happy birthday pic.twitter.com/bat6ZfrKdq

— BCCI (@BCCI) July 3, 2017

@harbhajan_singh happy birthday brother have a good one!

— Mitchell McClenaghan (@Mitch_Savage) July 2, 2017