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Senior off-spinner is pleased with the variety and skill his spin peer bring in to Team India |
In his 17-year old career, he has been through a lot of transitions - started off as a subordinate to Anil Kumble, became one of the leaders of the spin department in the years to follow and then slowly began to fade away with lack of form and the emergence of new talent. By his own acceptance, the game has changed but the bowler in him has always made it a point to be abreast with the changing formats and trends in bowling. “Cricket has changed a lot from 1998 to now. There is a huge difference,” he says, speaking to tv. “There weren’t many attacking batsmen in the past, but nowadays with T20 coming into play, a lot of teams have hard hitters who go after the bowling. Cricket has become a lot more competitive.
“What I see from my side is that I have something new to learn everyday no matter how many years I have given on the field. There is always an opportunity for me to go out there and learn something new. Each day on the cricket field is throwing something new at you and I look forward to the challenge. I try to go out there, enjoy the moment, absorb the pressure and try to do my best.”
No doubt the off-spinner has tried his level best, but the numbers from his recent tours in all three formats have not been up to the mark. For Harbhajan though, it has never been about numbers as he says, “As a bowler you have got to judge yourself by bowling well. On a given day you will take five wickets, but on another day you will probably go wicket-less. At times you realise that you have bowled much better than the previous game where you had taken a fifer.
“For me as a bowler, the most important thing is how you feel about your own bowling and what you have done to the best of your ability irrespective of the number of wickets you have taken. I believe you will pick wickets, if not today, tomorrow,” he elaborates.
Up next is the challenge against South Africa beginning in three days time. He is not a part of the ODI setup but the team management has shown faith in his abilities to make a difference in the shortest format of the game. The off-spinner quite obviously is looking forward to the challenge against South Africa. “Every game for me is important. I will try and give my best in whatever way I can be it bowling, batting or fielding or whether it is giving suggestions as well. This is a very important series for us and we know South Africa are a very good side.
Hopefully we will show them what we are made of. We are very much prepared for this competition and I believe it is going to be a good one.”
The T20 format is also one that he could look to thrive on. After all, it was his good show in the IPL that got him back to the national fold. Bhajji owed his success in the shortest format to his ‘keeping things simple’ policy and the ability to think on his feet. “T20 is a competition where a lot of things happen in a quick span of time. Under such conditions you need to be a thinking bowler. You have to be prepared to bowl at any stage of the game. In my case even if I am just fielding, I look to put myself under difficult situations and concentrate on what I need to do. If I see a partnership growing, I look to understand my role as a bowler. That is what I did in the past editions of the IPL.
“I have always tried to break partnerships whenever I have come to bowl and made sure to stick to the team’s plan. I have always kept things simple - look for wickets but at the same time not to try too many things. Such has been the case in my bowling over the last three to four years and I have got a lot of rewards for it.”
Harhbajan has company in R Ashwin, Axar Patel and Amit Mishra in the spin department. He felt that it is the best spin attack India could have as of now. “We have a lot of variety here; we have off-spinners, a left-arm spinner and a leggie. I feel this is the best spin attack we have got at the moment. All of them have really done well in the recent past. R Ashwin bowled really well in the previous series against Sri Lanka. He has been fantastic and so has Amit Mishra. Axar Patel has been consistent in his performances in the ODIs. Also, the good thing about our spin department is that everybody can bat.
“This is the best you can get and I am here to give how much ever I can to the team. I am also there to give my advice to these guys on their game. It is a give and take kind of camaraderie among us. I am learning a lot of things from them as well. I want to learn, enjoy and try to do my best. I will do my best to win games for India,” signed off a confident Harbhajan.
Source: BCCI