Harbhajan Singh Says he Will Fight to Regain Test Spot
Harhajan Singh said that he is determined to win back his place after he was excluded from the Test series squad against South Africa.
- Press Trust of India
- Updated: October 28, 2015 05:08 pm IST
He may not be the part of the team for the upcoming Test series against South Africa, but off-spinner Harbhajan Singh is determined to win back his place. (Harbhajan Singh-Geeta Basra Wedding Ceremonies Start With Mehandi)
When quizzed whether he was disappointed on being left out, the 35-year-old said, Test skipper Virat Kohli had explained his reasons dropping him from the squad. (Ravichandran Ashwin Regaining Full Fitness Ahead of South Africa Tests)
"The captain (Test skipper Virat Kohli) told me that since South Africa will have three right-handers (Hashim Amla, Faf du Plessis and AB de Villiers) in their top-order, they wanted a left-arm spinner (Ravindra Jadeja) to go with an off-spinner," revealed Harbhajan.
"It was really nice of them to explain me the situation. But I will certainly fight and win my place back in the Test team," said Harbhajan, who is only 17 wickets away from becoming second highest Indian wicket-taker in Tests.(PM Modi May Attend Reception)
Harbhajan said he "enjoyed the challenge" of bowling to a top-class side in the ODIs.
"It was a series that I really enjoyed playing. It is always a challenge when you face a world class opposition and that's exactly when you would need to give more than 100 percent for the team.
"I am personally very satisfied with how I bowled in the series," Harbhajan, who was the only specialist bowler apart from Amit Mishra, to complete his full quota of overs in all matches said.
For Harbhajan, it was also very important that he could deliver what the limited overs captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni wanted from him.
In fact Dhoni praised his performance during his interactions with the media.
"The captain always has a plan in mind and as a bowler it is my job to execute it. How I implement it is upto me but you need to put your hand up in tough situations. I would prefer bowling to AB (de Villiers), Faf (du Plessis) or Quinton (de Kock) as they are attacking players. It gives me a chance to devise various strategies," said Harbhajan.
Talking about the Mumbai match, where the Indian bowling attack was plundered, Harbhajan went for only 34 in his first 7 overs before De Villiers stuck into the Indian attack.
"I have played lot of cricket in Wankhede. It has always been a very good batting track. It has good bounce and ball comes at the right pace for batsmen and they get a good value for their shots.
"It was one such day when AB was on fire. Also we dropped a few catches. Had we taken those catches and fielded well, the score would have been much lesser than 438," said the senior off-spinner.
Harbhajan will return to Ranji Trophy, where he would take over the Punjab captain's mantle from his deputy Yuvraj Singh.
For India's third highest wicket-taker in Tests, each and every format is important.
"Yes, I have done well in the ODIs but I have not thought that I will play any specific formats. Each and every format is very important for me. I want to play all the three formats and do well for the country in each of them," said the owner of 710 international scalps which include 417 Test, 269 ODI and 24 T20 wickets.