25 May 2023 last updated at 18:43 GMT
 
Bhajji welcomes healthy competition
Thursday 24 November 2011

India outcast Harbhajan Singh believes that he still has another 5-6 years of cricket left in him.

Although he praised the young spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha who are doing well currently, but the feisty off-spinner said he never shies away from competition.

"I do have another 5-6 years of cricket in me. Picture abhi baaki hai (The movie is yet to get over). I think I can still contribute to the side for some time," Harbhajan said.

"Competition is good for the side, I am not afraid of competition. If I was afraid of competition, I wouldn't have played international cricket for 13 years. If there is no competition, the level of the game will not rise," he said.

Following his dismal performance in the West Indies and the Lord's Test in England earlier this summer, Harbhajan has been out of the Indian team since the ODI series at home against the Englishmen.

However, Harbhajan was optimistic about his selection for the upcoming tour Down Under and hinted that his record against Australia would be hard for the selectors to ignore.

"I enjoy playing against Australia. They are very aggressive and we need to be aggressive to counter them or they will start dominating you. I still remember the famous series in 2001 where I took 32 wickets in 3 Tests and the Australian media gave me the name turbanator."

Harbhajan also hoped that Sachin Tendulkar would reach his milestone 100th century in the ongoing third Test in Mumbai.

"I am praying he (Tendulkar) does it in Mumbai. There is no one better than him. I really hope he does it in Mumbai, he deserves it on his home ground," he said.

Harbhajan also recalled the tough times senior players of the team had during Greg Chappell's tenure as coach.

"It was one of the worst phases of Indian cricket. He had divided the team completely. It is wrong to say that he got the youngsters their due, he only divided the team by creating insecurity in the team. I was insecure, Sachin was insecure. I was told if I took five wickets, only then will I play the next match. It was not a happy feeling in the team," he said.

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