Airtel Champions League is all set to kick off in South Africa and all eyes are on Sachin Tendulkar and Mumbai Indians following their dream run leading to IPL-III finals.

In a candid interview to the Cricket Extra programme, Mumbai Indians ace spinner Harbhajan Singh throws a word of caution to other participating teams.

Excerpts:

Are you enjoying the T20 cricket format?   

Laughs!  It’s a ‘katle-aam’ (mass murder) for the bowlers.

How excited are you to be a part of Champions League T20 and what are your expectations from the tournament?

We are very excited. If we play well, we will last the distance. I am sure it is going to be challenging at this level but Mumbai Indians have the resources and talent pool to win the trophy.

Any memory of the last year’s CLT20?

Honestly speaking, I could not follow the tournament as we had the Australian team touring at that time of the year. However, I remember Kieron Pollard clobbering New South Wales bowlers. At that moment itself we felt that this guy was special. Pollard is with us now and we are sure that life won’t be easier for other teams.

Was Champions league participation in your mind when you were playing the IPL?

Not really. We wanted to play well and win the IPL. We are happy to have qualified and want to win the Champions League, which for sure would be a cracker of a tournament.

Having played the second edition of the IPL in South Africa, do you think it’s a good place to play?

South Africa are a good host. I have played a lot of tournaments over there including the 2007 T20 World Cup. It is a fantastic place to play and hopefully we will win this time and bring back the memories of 2007 World Cup.

There are few South African players in your team. Do you think this will favour you in any way?

Of course! It will. They are bound to know the conditions better. People like Jonty and Duminy have grown up playing in those conditions. Their experience will be of huge insight for us.

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