At 30, the Indian offspinner introspects on being a senior player in the side, dealing with brickbats, his batting skills, the World Cup, marriage and more
Interview by Nishant Jeet Arora03-Jul-2010Harbhajan – turning 30, what does it mean?
Well, 30 is just a number. I am still young at heart. I am young always. I don’t know how I am going to feel after 30. It’s obviously special. I have seen my seniors play after 30 and I hope I perform well after 30.In other professions, when you turn 30, you are still young.
I am still young. You are trying to make me think I’m old.No, no, I’m just trying to say, you have already played 13 years and now probably have six or seven years of cricket left, but do you think that this could be your best time – more responsibilities, more challenges – as spinners mature slowly?
All I want to say is that it has been a great journey of 11 years playing for India. I have enjoyed each and every moment. You know, many people have performed better after crossing 30 and I hope it’s that way for me as well and I become one of those legends like Anil Kumble and Sachin Tendulkar. I always look up to these guys. They have been our heroes and I will be really happy to perform like them. Not like them, exactly, but even if I do half of what they have, I will be really happy with myself.Where do you see yourself go from here?
When I started playing cricket, I never thought I would come so far. I mean, god has been really kind to me. And I come from a place like Jalandhar, where the facilities are not as good as you get in Bangalore, Chennai and cities like Delhi, but all I want to say is that I am very happy at what I have achieved and want to thank my family and whoever has supported me in the last 11 years of cricket. I don’t want to set big goals, you know. I want to take each match as it comes. I just want to play to the best of my ability for my country.Do you think bowlers get their due? India’s top three batsmen are Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sunil Gavaskar. Top three bowlers: Anil Kumble, Kapil Dev and Harbhajan Singh. Where do you see yourself in history? Do you think you have got your dues or do you think that the time has come for people to give you your dues?
Well, obviously in Test cricket even 200 wickets are a lot of wickets and I am really happy that I have got 355 at the moment and I am on No. 3. And if you look at the two guys who are above me in the list, they are Anil Kumble and Kapil Dev, the legends of Indian cricket. It feels great to see my name below both of them. I am still going strong and I will try to be strong and play every match with full intensity and take as many wickets as I can. What matters most to me is that I should be happy. There should be no complaints when I leave cricket. I should not be thinking that I could have done better here or there. I really don’t care whether people give me credit or not. My team-mates know what I have done and people who actually understand cricket know what contribution I have made in Indian cricket and to the team.The reason I asked you this question is because when it comes to the captaincy, your name is never discussed. You have played for 11 good years…
Well, I don’t know what the reason is. I have said many times that I am available. And obviously, if something like this comes then I would definitely be really honoured to receive this kind of responsibility.And you play all three forms of the game and you do reasonably well in them.
Well, I try my best when I perform. Let’s see, as you said, I have not got my dues, so probably I will get them when the time comes. I have seen Anil Kumble – before he was going to retire, he was captain of India for two years. Maybe for me it will be the same thing. Let’s see, who knows?A lot of people say that captaincy is not for bowlers…
No, I don’t believe in all this. If you see Sir Kapil Dev, he won the World Cup. He was an allrounder, but first he was a bowler, and Anil Kumble was another great cricketer and captain. And look at Imran Khan and Wasim Akram. And Daniel Vettori is doing a great job. And Shane Warne, of course – look at the kinds of fields he sets. So you know, it’s nothing to do with being a bowler. It’s just that some people think that this is meant for batsmen. That’s just not true.Dhoni is doing a very good job…
He is doing a great job. We have a wonderful captain in him. He has done a lot of good things for Indian cricket and I wish him all the luck and I hope he continues to serve India for the next four or five years.
“For god’s sake, please leave us alone for some time. You know, we have got our own life as well. We don’t interfere in anyone’s life and say, ‘Do this, do that.’ We are mature people and know what to do”
Your batting over the last two years – it’s a new dimension to your game. The way you won the game against Pakistan [Asia Cup], it looked like a very good batsman was out in the middle who knew when to get his runs. And now many people are calling you an allrounder.
No, I am not an allrounder. There was only one allrounder that India produced, and that is Kapil Dev, and I don’t think after Kapil Dev there has been any allrounder. But I am definitely someone who can work with the bat, and I have worked really hard on it, thanks to Gary Kirsten and my team-mates.Who is your batting coach?
A lot of people are there who keep advising me on my batting, but I would like to thank Sachin Tendulkar for giving me lots of tips and giving me lots of his good bats.So you have the best batting coach?
Yes, of course. I have played with players like Javagal Srinath, Kumble, Dravid, Ganguly and VVS Laxman. I have been really lucky to have worked along with these guys – not just in terms of cricket but life as well, and yes, Sachin has been tremendous. When we were playing in Australia in 2008, he told me, “Don’t just watch the ball, the ball.”Was that the day you decided to stop whacking the ball and take your batting seriously?
Yes. I scored 50-odd runs in that game and went on to score 60 in the next game. So you see there was actually a time when I started taking my batting seriously.You see a Test hundred around the corner?
Why not? I mean, only if you think you can do it will you get it.Is that your goal?
Definitely a Test hundred. If I achieve a Test hundred I can guarantee you, I will have few more before I die.And then we can call you an allrounder?
No, I am a bowler who can bat a bit and I just want to keep things very simple and enjoy my cricket.How much have you felt in the last two years that the onus is on you? How much do you think: I am a senior guy, I am the one who has to take this team forward?
Well, I am the kind of person who actually believes that I have to win the game, and that I have got young bowlers like Pragyan Ojha, Piyush Chawla, R Ashwin and I need to show them the way.Like Anil Kumble guided you?
Yes, like he guided me all the way in my career. Even now, after he has retired, I ask him whenever there is something wrong with my bowling and even when he is not there I call him and ask him – like after the Nagpur Test match [against South Africa] I called him and asked him whether anything was wrong. He told me that there was nothing wrong and said to just keep things very simple. “You have won games on previous occasions. Just go and give it your best shot and be relaxed as much as you can.””If I achieve a Test hundred I can guarantee you, I will have few more before I die”•Getty ImagesThat Nagpur Test, I still remember, there was a lot of criticism of your bowling and I saw that when you came to Kolkata, it was a different bowler, one who wanted to go there and win. I remember I called you three or four times and you said you didn’t want to talk before the Test match ended. You were so focused. How much pressure is it at times like this?
Well, if it is fair criticism I am never against it, but it should be about the game, not on a personal note. I mean, I don’t get along with a few cricketers and ex-cricketers, they should not be pointing fingers at me in front of people or on the national news, or writing articles and commenting that I am rubbish and all. At the end of the day, they should understand that whenever I wear that jersey, I go out to give my best for my country. Sometimes you click, sometimes you don’t. You have to support your player when he is not doing well.When you lose a Test match or an important match, how bad do you feel personally?
Well, obviously I’m the kind of person who believes in winning and there is no other way in my dictionary. I don’t want to lose. And I want to convey this message that more than anyone, it hurts the people who play the game – those 11 people are more hurt when they lose than anyone else. And people say we get money, because of the IPL players are not playing well, the parties… that is all rubbish.Were you unhappy with what happened after the World Twenty20 defeat recently?
Of course. It hurts how people were going after us. Everyone was making it seem like we are running after money. For god’s sake, please leave us alone for some time. You know, we have got our own life as well. We don’t interfere in anyone’s life and say, “Do this, do that.” We are mature people and know what to do.So you don’t mind criticism done with cricket logic?
Well, that’s fine – if I don’t bowl well, you criticise me for whatever, but don’t criticise other things. I mean by saying things like we play IPL and we get money and we don’t play well for the country. Playing for the country is my first thing, and what I am today is because I am playing for my country. If was playing for only the IPL or any other club then nobody would have given me the respect which I have got and whatever I have achieved today.As a senior cricketer you must have a way to handle it, but what about youngsters – how do they take it?
Well, to be honest, I really don’t care what people are saying because it’s their bread and butter, like our bread and butter is cricket.You know, it can definitely affect youngsters. If someone does not do well, okay you criticise him, but don’t get on his case for any other reason. It definitely affects the youngsters.And at that point the system is also questioned: what is the BCCI doing?
Don’t say that. The system has produced Sachin Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev etc – we have produced so many players. If the system was wrong then I would not have been picked when I was a 17-year-old, and I would not have taken 350-odd wickets, so don’t go by the reports. We have got an Under-19 team who have won the World Cup. Our senior cricketers won the 1983 World Cup, and we won the 2007 Twenty20 World Cup. Everyone is getting chances to play for the country. Look at these guys like Virat Kohli, Rohit and others who have played for the country…But will you accept the criticism that you were not doing so well in one format – Twenty20?
That is okay. We know that we have not done well in the Twenty20 but we have done well in Test cricket and we are No. 1 and it’s the toughest because it tests you mentally and physically, and we are No. 1 in that, and if you look at one-day cricket, we are almost there at No. 1 or 2. In Twenty20 we have not played to the best of our ability, but that’s okay, we will lose a few games and it’s part of the game.
“I have played with players like Javagal Srinath, Kumble, Dravid, Ganguly and VVS Laxman. I have been really lucky to have worked along with these guys – not just in terms of cricket but life as well, and yes, Sachin has been tremendous
It was really nice that after a very long time we had a passionate India-Pakistan match [Asia Cup]. What did Shoaib Akhtar say to you? Shahid Afridi said that you love each other…
Well, whenever India and Pakistan play, it’s always tough – pressure, lots of emotions. No team wants to lose because that’s the only game people are watching back home. Doesn’t matter if it’s the World Cup or whatever series it is. Whatever he said, I don’t want to talk about it. I hit him for a six, and yes, it was good to be on the winning side. That six was a satisfying moment.This is a very important year for India. Your No. 1 ranking will be challenged. You will be playing Australia, going to South Africa, and of course the World Cup… What kind of responsibility do you see for yourself?
Yes, a lot of Test matches coming this year and lots of big tournaments, and responsibilities are always there when you play for the country. All I want to say is that I want to keep everything very simple, take one match one at a time. My focus is to do well in the next game, whatever I am going to play. That’s it really. I don’t want to think about the World Cup or any other tournament which is too far away.Don’t you think the World Cup is going to be very special, as it is in India? Everyone would love to see you lift the trophy in March next year.
Well, that will be the biggest moment for my career if that happens and I am praying to god that it happens. I can’t imagine what kind of feeling it would be. I really want to be part of it and lift the trophy. It will be very special.Thirty means responsibility, 30 means lots of good things in life. Is there anything personally that you want to do – get married, settle down? Or is that your family’s responsibility? It’s not easy to lose your father at a young age as you have. Do you think you have lived up to your responsibility as a family man?
Well, obviously I have gone through a lot in the last 10 years or so. And there have been a lot of responsibilities from the family side, and with the grace of god I have tried to do everything.On a personal note, I want to play this World Cup first. Then obviously the time has come where I have to think of getting someone for my mom who she can talk with. I mean, my friends are always there and nephews and other members of the family, there but she is waiting for a [daughter-in-law]. Yes, definitely I’ll think about it after the World Cup. By next July, who knows, I may be married.Yes, that’s it, and hopefully I’ll get 500 wickets.