Bhajji: I'm an ordinary bowler
India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh portrayed a modest picture by describing himself as "an ordinary bowler".
His guile may have helped India win many a cricketing battle, but he, who first captured the cricket world's imagination with his sterling performance against Steve Waugh's Australia in 2002, feels there was nothing extra-ordinary about him but an open mind to go about his job as per the team's requirements.
"I would say I am an ordinary bowler but one with a really big heart and that's what has stood me in good stead in all these years," Harbhajan said in response to the extraordinary trust which his skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has on him.
"I have seen cricketers who were extremely talented but they didn't have heart," he said on the sidelines of a promotional campaign by a Swiss watch manufacturer, endorsed by Harbhajan, at the team hotel in central London.
Dhoni often mentions that the spinner, who has taken 12 wickets from 14 matches at a stupendous economy rate of 6.50 in Twenty20 internationals, is the kind of presence in the line-up whom he can trust to bowl in the first six or the death over of an opposition's innings.
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The variations in pace, the spin and the ability to read the batsman's mind is the hallmark of Harbhajan who is now the spearhead of the Indian spin attack. The Jalandhar bowler was also liberal in praising left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha, saying the youngster had talent and right attitude to the game.
"He has very good potential and is someone who is talented and doing well. If he keeps doing the basics right he has the potential to serve the country long," he said.
Ojha has so far picked up six wickets in the tournament and so good has been his combination with Bhajji that Dhoni intends to keep the two-spinner theory in the line-up going in the Twenty20 World Cup.
Harbhajan has matured over the seasons and not only performs well at home but is also a strong presence abroad in all formats of the game, as shown in recent months in New Zealand, in the Indian Premier League and now presently in the World Twenty20.
"I would say Indian team is having a good time and may this good time continue to roll on," concluded the feisty cricketer.
With crucial players like Chris Gayle, Virender Sehwag, Daniel Vettori and Kevin Pietersen nursing injuries, is the slam-bang version of cricket starting to take its toll on the players? You know where to write in with your thoughts. Write in to us at: fanspeak@espnstar.co.in
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