Harbhajan delighted with Surrey deal

Harbhajan Singh expressed his happiness at Surrey having chosen him as their overseas player for the 2005 season. Speaking after the first day's play against South Africa at Kanpur, Harbhajan said that he was looking forward to playing at The Oval, one of his favourite hunting grounds.

In his only Test there, the fourth and final game of the 2002 series, Harbhajan picked up 5 for 115 in the first innings of the high-scoring encounter which was finally drawn with Michael Vaughan falling five short of his double century after Rahul Dravid had compiled 217.

His last match at the ground was during the NatWest Challenge against England where he finished with 2 for 14, one of his most economical spells, in a match where England scored 307. Harbhajan suggested that his display that day might have impressed the Surrey bigwigs. "I have fond memories of the ground where one of my best figures have come," he said, adding that Surrey had approached him with an offer during the ICC Champions Trophy that followed.

"I was keen and had to wait for the Indian Board's approval, which has finally come now," he said. This is not the first time that Harbhajan has agreed to a contract with an English county. In 2003, he agreed terms with Lancashire, only to skip the entire campaign after he was advised to rest the troublesome finger which subsequently needed surgery in Australia last winter.