By Abhishek Roy, IANS
Vadodara : The absence of Anil Kumble from India’s one-day team has put more responsibility on the shoulders of Harbhajan Singh, now the country’s leading spinner and a man who feels Twenty20 cricket will kill the art of spin.
“I know I have more responsibilities in the team as a senior bowler and I have to take care of it. I have to be like a guiding force for the young spinners in the team,” Harbhajan told IANS in an interview.
Harbhajan, 27, is India’s most successful off-spinner and after the retirement of veteran leg-spinner Anil Kumble, the offie is now the front line spinner of the team.
“Anil bhai’s absence has created a vacuum in the team. But we do have some nice young spinners and they should be given time to mature. A good spinner matures with age,” said Harbhajan, the first Indian to take a hat trick in a Test.
“Youngsters like Piyush Chawla and Pragyan Ojha are really talented and I firmly believe that if they are given time they will do the country proud. Even when I started my career, I was very average in the first few matches. But then the selectors had faith in me and persisted with me,” said the spinner.
But Harbhajan, who was a part of the Twenty20 World Championship winning squad, felt that the new version of the game is going to kill the art of spin.
“This Twenty20 cricket will kill the art of spin. Why only spin, it will also kill the fast bowlers. It is heavily favoured towards the batsmen and especially towards the pinch-hitters. Even if I bowl a good ball it will vanish into the stands for a six. Twenty20 cricket will obviously have its effect on ODIs and Test cricket.”
In the 2001 home series against Australia, Harbhajan collected 32 wickets in three Tests, including the first Test hat trick by an Indian. He claimed the hat trick in the second match in a historic Test match in Kolkata.
Harbhajan made his international debut in 1998 and since then he has turned out to be a potential match winner and was also the nemesis for the Australians when they toured India in 2001. He has 238 wickets from 57 Test matches and 176 wickets from 154 ODIs – a record that can forces everyone to take notice of the man from Jalandhar.
Asked about the factors that keep motivating him, Harbhajan said: “I enjoy my game and that’s what keeps me motivated. Even when I was dropped I kept bowling more and more and got my form back. The more I bowl, the better I get.”
When asked whether India is suffering from a Twenty20 hangover, which resulted in their losses at the start of the ongoing series against Australia, Harbhajan said: “No I don’t think so. I personally feel that the win is past. For me the thing ended when we won the World Championship on Sep 24.”
The “Turbanator”, as Harbhajan is often called, added: “The only problem is that Australians are batting well. We have to be really good against them.”
On the forthcoming series against archrivals Pakistan, Harbhajan said: “It will be a tough series. We have defeated them twice including the final in the Twenty20 World Championship. When we play each other, both the teams are pumped up and it is going to be an exciting contest.
“But the good thing is that before facing Pakistan we are taking on tougher opponents like the Australians. This series will help us to prepare well against the Pakistanis.”