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Harbhajan wants Champions Trophy to erase WT20 nightmares
Star spinner Harbhajan Singh believes the time has come for India to win its next ICC tournament, the Champions Trophy.
Dubai:
Star spinner Harbhajan Singh believes the time has come for India to win its next ICC tournament, the Champions Trophy, especially after the side's disappointing performance in the Twenty20 World Cup in England.
"We didn't play well in the ICC World Twenty20 and this tournament is the next biggest this year. So it's our chance to show people what we're capable of," Harbhajan, who is currently in Sri Lanka for the Compaq Cup tri-series, was quoted as saying in an ICC newsletter.
"We are a good side and this is the time for us to pick ourselves and show the world what we're made of and it's a great opportunity for us to get revenge on the teams we've lost to in the recent past," Harbhajan said.
"To be honest, we definitely have to play well as we all know we didn't play to our full potential in the ICC World Twenty20. A lot of things didn't go our way in that tournament but that's cricket and these things happen.
"We accept we didn't play to our full potential so now we need to make sure we are all looking forward to this tournament where we can prove to everyone, and ourselves, that we are one of the top sides," said the 29-year-old off-spinner.
Harbhajan knows it won't be an easy path into the semi-final stage of the eight-team competition, particularly as India's group features defending champion Australia, former winner the West Indies and reigning ICC World Twenty20 champion Pakistan.
However he believes India has the combination to handle every situation.
"There are a lot of players to watch like Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina," he pointed out.
Harbhajan, who has taken 210 wickets for India in 189 ODIs, admits India's biggest threat was India itself.
"I think the biggest threat for us will be ourselves. I want to be very straight and humble about this but we don't want to pay attention to what other people were doing. We just want to be humble in our process and in what we do. We know how to win matches from any given situation and we can win against any side on any given day even if we play 70 or 80 per cent of our potential.
"It's going to be hard but we'll go out and give it our best shot," he added.
"We didn't play well in the ICC World Twenty20 and this tournament is the next biggest this year. So it's our chance to show people what we're capable of," Harbhajan, who is currently in Sri Lanka for the Compaq Cup tri-series, was quoted as saying in an ICC newsletter.
"We are a good side and this is the time for us to pick ourselves and show the world what we're made of and it's a great opportunity for us to get revenge on the teams we've lost to in the recent past," Harbhajan said.
"To be honest, we definitely have to play well as we all know we didn't play to our full potential in the ICC World Twenty20. A lot of things didn't go our way in that tournament but that's cricket and these things happen.
"We accept we didn't play to our full potential so now we need to make sure we are all looking forward to this tournament where we can prove to everyone, and ourselves, that we are one of the top sides," said the 29-year-old off-spinner.
Harbhajan knows it won't be an easy path into the semi-final stage of the eight-team competition, particularly as India's group features defending champion Australia, former winner the West Indies and reigning ICC World Twenty20 champion Pakistan.
However he believes India has the combination to handle every situation.
"There are a lot of players to watch like Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina," he pointed out.
Harbhajan, who has taken 210 wickets for India in 189 ODIs, admits India's biggest threat was India itself.
"I think the biggest threat for us will be ourselves. I want to be very straight and humble about this but we don't want to pay attention to what other people were doing. We just want to be humble in our process and in what we do. We know how to win matches from any given situation and we can win against any side on any given day even if we play 70 or 80 per cent of our potential.
"It's going to be hard but we'll go out and give it our best shot," he added.
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