Harbhajan Singh

Harbhajan Singh
Harbhajan Singh Plaha; born 3 July 1980 in Jalandhar, Punjab, India), commonly known as Harbhajan Singh, is an Indian international cricketer and former captain of IPL team Mumbai Indians and Punjab state for the 2012–13 Ranji Trophy season. A specialist spin bowler, he has the second-highest number of Test wickets by an off spinner, behind Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan. Harbhajan made his Test and One Day Internationaldebuts in early 1998. His career was initially affected by investigations into the legality...
NationalityIndian
ProfessionCricket Player
Date of Birth3 July 1980
CityJalandhar, India
CountryIndia
The batsman does not always need to create big hits. He can hit a boundary, then pick up some singles and still gets nine runs. To avoid that, I need to plan in a way where he must look to hit wherever there is a fielder. That is what is called 'bowling to the field.'
Most of the cricketers are doing side businesses apart from playing the sport, so why should I be left behind. I feel there is a lot of money in making films, and since Punjabi cinema is doing good, this is a lucrative option for me.
According to the situation, your role changes in one-day cricket, especially in a phase like the Powerplay. If I bowl four spells, four times I will be playing a different role. If I come in the first Powerplay, and say the opposition are 70 for no loss after 10 overs, I will be looking to take a wicket.
You have to see if the batsman is coming out, if he is staying back, what his grip is like, to gauge his intentions. A common trend I have observed is, a lot of batsmen change their grips when they are looking to hit: normally they either go high or slide their hand to the bottom of the handle to get maximum power.
I have entered the sports equipment business with 'Bhajji Sports.' I am applying for ICC clearance so that cricket bats with 'Bhajji Sports' logos could be used for international matches. In domestic circuit, the Punjab team is already wearing Bhajji Sports dresses for the Ranji Trophy matches.
I am not a great fan of computers. I do watch videos and analyse which batsman is playing how. Batsmen can play different shots on different days. A batsman may not play cover drives well, but if he connects with two such shots, he starts playing the drive well on that day.
Either you face the challenges in life head on or back out. And I am not someone to back out from challenges.
I do not play golf regularly, but I feel that hitting the moving ball in cricket is tougher than hitting a stationary ball as in golf, which requires more concentration and steady hands.
A bowler is his own captain. I know what needs to be done, what the ball is doing. If you don't know where you are going to bowl and where you think the batsman will hit, then how can you tell the captain what you want? You are the judge.
I am very emotional. It took me many years to recover from the death of my father. Even when I was playing cricket, I wasn't happy. I would just sit and cry. I was very young. He was too young; he shouldn't have gone. Cricket is all right. We all play sport. Good and bad days come.
Thinking about your role will automatically get you in the frame of mind to get your strategy and game plan right before you step onto that field.
There are days where you do everything right and nothing goes in your favour.
I think cricket is there in Usain Bolt's blood. Since I got to watch from close quarters, it was amazing to see him run up to bowl. The perfect delivery stride is understandable because he is a world champion athlete. But the manner - he loaded at the crease and then bowled the ball - left me zapped. He looked like a natural cricketer.
I would say I am an ordinary bowler but one with a really big heart, and that's what has stood me in good stead in all these years.