Harbhajan Singh talks comebacks, fatherhood, and how his comment about spin-friendly Indian pitches was misunderstood
Interview by Arun Venugopal25-May-2017Do things become harder as a cricketer once you cross 35?
I don’t think age is a factor. As you grow older, you obviously become more experienced. I have not tried anything fancy – just kept things really simple, checking the batsman, the situation, understanding my own game and what is he [the batsman] looking to do, what is the best option I should be looking to bowl, what angles. If you bowl what you know, you will get results.Things may not always fall in place, but you know this is the best thing rather than trying something which is not even in your game, and you have just learnt that because you feel that the batsman will go after you. Over the years, muscles develop by bowling in a certain way. To suddenly change it, I don’t think is the right approach.Have you tried doing something different and then had to revert to your original methods?
Yeah, several times. We try different things. We think if it’s a right-hand batsman, I should not bowl an offbreak to him. Why do we decide that? In Test cricket, you bowl offspin to a right-hand batsman with midwicket and mid-on inside the ring. It’s not as if the batsman can’t hit from the first ball there. It’s all about the mindset you are in.In T20s, the batsman looks to take chances, so as a bowler, be ready for it rather than getting on to the back foot right from the start. If the batsman is that good, let him hit your best deliveries and not because you are making mistakes. format player side [You need to keep the big player in you aside]. Whatever you have done is history. Do what you need to do now. The wickets are good and the players are good against spin bowling. You get disappointed, but then you pick yourself up and say, “Okay, let’s come back stronger next day and do it again.” Be it IPL or domestic cricket or international cricket, the approach is always the same: to take wickets.It’s not like it happens only with me. If you talk to anyone, they will say the same thing. Even an Anil Kumble has to go through it.When you feel this way, who do you discuss your frustrations with?
You can’t tell everyone. There are people within the cricket fraternity and outside. When we meet and talk to people, such discussions often happen. The only way to make a comeback is to play and enjoy the game. Why did we start playing this game? Because we used to enjoy it. Suddenly, enjoyment game [The enjoyment shouldn’t become a headache]. But it does happen that way, whether you do it deliberately or not. Circumstances lead to that kind of a mindset.Whatever level you are playing, you should look to enjoy. That’s what I have been looking to do over the last year and a half. I will just enjoy no matter where I am playing and what level I am playing at. If I am not enjoying, I will not take part.I didn’t play the last season [of first-class cricket] because I was enjoying with my family. I thought there’s no need for me to be travelling from one place to another every four days because this time won’t come back again. This is a beautiful time and I want to be there each and every day.Do you record all your daughter’s activities?
My camera is full of my daughter’s videos and photos. Obviously your priorities change when you have kids. That’s what happened to me and she brought a lot of changes in me. Playing for India is not used to slip this delivery between offbreaks. I asked him to teach me the delivery, and I have used it to dismiss several left-hand batsmen. With a slightly newer ball, it will swing back into the batsman and get him out lbw or bowled.[Even when I play with another offspinner in the side], I don’t think he is a rival. Both of us are playing together. It doesn’t matter [if he is a junior]. He is there to play because he is good. I am there because I am good too. Our motive is to win the game for India. Whenever Ashwin is doing well, I congratulate him. It’s okay if people have made a big controversy on Twitter; it’s their job. Only we know what relationship we share as players.You can’t have the [same rapport] with everyone, but when you are playing in the same team, I think it’s important to have a good rapport with everyone. A player is like a brother. If he is doing well, good. If he is not, then something is missing and if I think I should go and talk to him, then I do.You have stayed with the same franchise for a decade now. What has the role of Mumbai Indians been in your career?
It has been my second family. I have given my heart and soul for them and they have also been really good to me. See, the IPL is a very demanding world. You have to keep producing results. Obviously, a rapport is created only when you do something good for someone. You do well, you stay with the franchise. If you don’t, they will let you go. It’s fun and a matter of great pride to be part of the same team because there is a sense of belonging, that MI is my team.
