The Hindu : Sport : Harbhajan up to the task ahead

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Friday, Jul 29, 2005

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Harbhajan up to the task ahead

By S. Ram Mahesh

READY FOR THE CHALLENGE: Spinners from other lands haven't done well in Sri Lanka. Harbhajan Singh is keen to set the record straight in the forthcoming tri-series. - PHOTO: V.V. KRISHNAN.

Dambulla: "I wear just one hat," says Harbhajan Singh about De Bono's coloured ones, even as he twirls his own and points to it. "White. I'm not too concerned about all that. It helps your thinking, but at the end of the day it's what you do on the ground."

What Harbhajan does on the ground — in a synchronous whir of arms, feet, wrist and fingers — is special. But Sri Lanka is a cruel spin mistress. And all the matches in the Indian Oil Cup will melt into flood-lit nights, introducing dew to the complex array of factors to overcome.

While Sri Lanka's low-slung spinners bowl near unplayable creepers on their dew-lacquered crumbling pitches, tweakers from other lands struggle to grip a ball that is more slippery soap than leather and cork. "Dew is a problem for any bowler, let alone a spinner," says Harbhajan. "But the dew here doesn't seem as bad as what we have encountered in Kolkata and Gwalior. And our fast bowlers can skid it [on dew]."

"Win the toss and bat first," he says and adds as an afterthought, "but if we play two spinners, we'll have to think about it."

Catch-22 situation

It's archetypal Catch-22: do you risk chasing under lights — not something India's done well against Sri Lanka — or do you throw a sodden ball to Harbhajan and Kumble when Sanath Jayasuriya is swinging a ruthless sword?

Then there is the little matter of the Sri Lankans salivating whenever they see a spinner marking out his run up. "They play Murali [Muttiah Muralitharan] in the nets all the time," says Harbhajan, "and they are good at rotating the strike. Players everywhere have anyway started playing spin better."

He picks out Marvan Atapattu — "a quality player" - and Jayasuriya as the ones who've countered him best. How does he intend to bowl to them then? "It varies. I start off with line and length and see how the batsman reacts — the way his feet move, his arms swing, and how he angles his bat. Sometimes a batsman's weakness becomes his strength and I have to change plans."

To compound matters, the boundary ropes in Dambulla have been brought in. Even a mishit induced by a ball that hangs in the air like a blues note and proceeds to dip will carry for six. "The grounds are small and the bats are better, but you've got to take chances," he says. "You can't always bowl yorkers."

Happy

Harbhajan is happy the tournament isn't being played under the new rules. "The rules apply to everyone, but it's a batsman's game. If you give him five more overs [of Power Play], he gets that many more free hits. Even with the old rules, totals of 300 were routine."

Last year's Asia Cup in Sri Lanka was where the team under Sourav Ganguly and John Wright first headed south. A disappointing season ensued. "We could have won those games, even in the finals we held them in the first session," the off-spinner says a touch wistfully.

Harbhajan is aware of this tournament's importance in building momentum for the season ahead. For India to triumph, Harbhajan and Kumble must outdo the host's phalanx, which contains the formidable Muralitharan. "He [Murali] has all the variations and the brain to know when to use them," he says jabbing his head with a twitchy forefinger. "But, it's not Murali versus Harbhajan."

Perhaps. But, it wouldn't hurt India's chances if Harbhajan wins that skirmish.

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