da poker： Having proved his credentials as a deadly off-spinner, Harbhajan Singhis now concentrating his energies on improving his batting too inorder to become a potent all-rounder
28-Jun-2001Having proved his credentials as a deadly off-spinner, Harbhajan Singhis now concentrating his energies on improving his batting too inorder to become a potent all-rounder.Harbhajan, who earned a record 32-wicket haul in the home Test seriesagainst Australia, has made the headlines on the Zimbabwe tour fordifferent reasons.Despite being the second highest wicket-taker for India in the Testseries, it was his gutsy contribution with the bat in both the Teststhat was more acknowledged. And Harbhajan, who turns 21 on July 3,himself knows his batting only too well.”I think my footwork is not very good but my eyesight is very good. Ican spot it (the ball) early,” he told PTI in an interview inBulawayo. He said his crucial knock in the Chennai Test againstAustralia had given him the confidence that he can get some runs too.”The point is if you bat well in an international series once, youhave the confidence to do it again. (After the knock againstAustralia) I said to myself: ‘If you can get it against Australia, youcan get it against any team’.””In the Ranji Trophy too this year, I have made good scores. Sowhenever I got a chance to go in the middle, I always felt I couldcontribute 30-40 runs,” he said.”But there are a lot of improvements needed in my batting and I willtry to improve more and more as the next few series are going to beonly tougher,” he said.The emphasis on batting is in no way at the cost of his bowling andHarbhajan continues to be as impressive as he was during theAustralian series though the number of his victims has certainly comedown.