The right-hander followed up scores of 69 and 115 in the first test at Ahmedabad by bludgeoning the New Zealand attack again with seven boundaries and five sixes to bring up his ninth half-century in tests.
Harbhajan added 69 runs in an unbroken last wicket partnership with Shanthakumaran Sreesanth to propel India to 436 for nine in their first innings, after New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori had orchestrated a batting collapse.
India has identified the importance of contribution from the lower order and are working hard on it, paceman Zaheer Khan said.
“Everyone in the dressing room is very excited with the way Harbhajan is batting and everyone is enjoying the way he is hitting sixes and boundaries,” Harbhajan’s bowling partner Khan told Neo Cricket channel.
“Contribution from the lower order is very vital. (Coach) Gary (Kirsten) has been spending a lot of time with the lower-order batters and its paying dividends.”
Vettori picked up Sachin Tendulkar, Suresh Raina and India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni to add to his overnight scalp of Virender Sehwag.
Vangipurappu Laxman (74) scored his 48th half-century and added 75 runs with Rahul Dravid (45) for the fourth wicket before Dravid was trapped plumb in front by paceman Tim Southee.
The stylish Laxman, playing his first test in front of his home crowd at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, also added 52 runs for the fifth with Raina, who holed out to Martin Guptill at mid-wicket trying to smote Vettori out of the ground.
Laxman was out leg before immediately after the tea break and was followed soon after by Dhoni (14), who was deceived by Vettori’s flight and scooped one straight to Brendon McCullum at short cover. The hosts lost the wickets of Dravid and Raina (20) in the second session after the loss of Tendulkar (13) in the fifth over of the day.
Tendulkar tried to break the shackles, imposed on him by some fine swing bowling by paceman Chris Martin, by dancing down the wicket to Vettori but only managed to get a thick edge. Ross Taylor at slip took a smart one-handed catch.
The three-match series is tied at 0-0 after the opening test was drawn. The third and final test will be played in Nagpur from Nov. 20-24.
