‘I don’t feel any threat due to Powar’

 

JALANDHAR: Harbhajan Singh said he was undaunted by growing competition for the spinner’s slot in the Indian Test squad. He, however, said he wanted to focus on giving his best instead of worrying about losing his place to a rival.
Mumbai off-spinner and all-rounder Ramesh Powar has more or less settled down in the squad and has impressed pundits with his flight and control in the shorter version of the game.

 

 

Did the presence of another off-spinner in Powar put additional pressure on him? “I don’t feel any threat due to Powar. Every player has to perform on the ground to book his place in the Indian team. When I play, I always try to give my best and if I keep any threats in mind, I will not be able to deliver the results at all,” he said. “Since I am an established player, I don’t have to worry about any threat. But obviously in case of competition, players always perform to their best which is good for the team.”

 

 

The recent tour of the Caribbean had given the team a fair idea of what to expect in the World Cup. “The climatic condition was similar to Asian countries and India would not have much difficulty. The wickets are slow and we know what score can be chased and defended.” He was also upbeat about the forthcoming tri-series in Sri Lanka. “Both the teams are good. It will be a challenge to win the title. Sri Lanka is always a threat at home. And this time around, their morale is on an all-time high considering that they beat England 5-0 recently. But if we play to its potential, we will be successful.”

 

 

Despite the recent failures of the batsmen, particularly in the one-dayers against the West Indies, Harbhajan said batting was not a cause of concern for the team.

 

“There is no cause of worry as far as batting is concerned as the team has performed excellently in the last many matches. In fact, out of last 25 matches, we won as many as 18 and the main contribution came from the batsmen. As far as the debacle in the ODI series against West Indies is concerned, the management will review it and overcome the mistakes committed in the series,” he added.

 

Harbhajan said more emphasis was being given now to improve the batting of the tail-enders. “Emphasis is being given to improve the batting of tail-enders whose contribution matters a lot while chasing a target. Even I am concentrating more on my batting. I devote at least one fourth of the total practice time to improve my batting.”

 

Harbhajan would rather not predict if he would still be playing when Asia hosts the World Cup in 2011. “Let us hope for the best. Spinners usually enjoy longevity as compared to fast bowlers. My wish is that I should finish my career after reaching similar heights as Anil Kumble.”

 

 

Harbhajan thinks the Twenty20 format will be the ultimate test of bowling skills. While describing the format as exciting, the off-spinner said it would be nothing short of a nightmare for bowlers like him as it is tailor-made for stroke-makers.

 

“It is a very exciting format but more for viewers and batsmen. Bowlers will always be under pressure in this format of the game,” he said. “It will be great fun for batsmen like Dhoni and Sehwag. But it will be just ‘katle aam’ (massacre) for bowlers.” He added: “I had a chance to play in Twenty20 cricket in England which attracted a lot of viewers and they really enjoyed the short game. But my experience is that bowlers will have to keep their fingers crossed before every ball.”