Harbhajan Singh Khalsa "Maclean's Magazine" in Canada published favorable articles about Harbhajan Singh in 1977, James Wilde of "Time" wrote a critical article that year, titled "Yogi Bhajan's Synthetic Sikhism". Wilde alleged that Gurucharan Singh Tohra, former President of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), had stated that Harbhajan Singh is not the leader of Sikhism in the Western World as he claimed, and that Tohra had denied the SGPC had ever given the title of Siri Singh Sahib to Singh. The "Time" article was followed by emphatic rebuttals from Tohra. There was also a demonstration held outside "Time"'s London office and a
Harbhajan Singh took 18 wickets at an average of 22.50, ranking outside the top 20 in wicket taking. He took a total of 5/131 as North lost to East Zone by five wickets. Harbhajan played the full 2009 Indian Premier League season in South Africa, taking 12 wickets at 21.33 and an economy rate of 5.81 in 13 matches. He was one of the most economical bowlers in the competition, and took 1/9 in four overs against Punjab to win the man of the match award. He ended the season with 4/17 against Delhi, but it was not enough to prevent a