India’s two-time World Cup-winning off-spinner Harbhajan Singh played his first cricket match in 699 days when turned up for the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in their first game in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL 2021) against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on April 11 in Chennai.
Harbhajan was handed the new ball by the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) captain Eoin Morgan in their defense of 187 against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on Sunday – the move was tactical as the left-hander David Warner was opening and Turbunator’s off-breaks would take the ball away from him.
However, the 41-year-old also didn't disappoint Morgan as he nearly dismissed Warner after he sliced a cut, but the ball was grassed by Pat Cummins at the point. Well, the off-spinner only gave away only 8 runs in the first over but wasn't handed the ball by Morgan for the rest of the match against SRH.
While there were a lot of talks of him bowling only one over in the KKR’s IPL 2021 opening contest against SRH, but Harbhajan – who spent 10 seasons with Mumbai Indians before moving to Chennai Super Kings in 2018 and then joining KKR in 2021 – believes that the match-ups dictated that strategy, and hopes to get longer spells in upcoming games in the ongoing IPL 14.
As reported by Cricbuzz, Harbhajan said on Monday: “Sometimes, these match-ups dominate the other way around. At times, there's this feeling that if X bowler bowls to Y batsman, then he will get the wicket. I think it has got a lot to do with the way you see the game and think about the game.”
He further explained, “A good enough batsman, or a good enough bowler, can do well against anyone else. I have always believed that the team requirement comes first. As a player, there will be times when you don't get a lot of opportunities.
Like, against SRH, I got just one over. IPL is a very long tournament and I know I have a lot of work to do for the team. There will be times when I'll have to bowl difficult four overs. I will have to take wickets of right-handers.
Now there is this tradition that a right-arm off-spinner doesn't bowl to a right-handed batsman and a left-arm off-spinner doesn't bowl to the left-handed batsman. Cricket has continued to stay the same but we've managed to complicate things. Today also batsmen get dismissed like the way they used to. We've limited our vision is what I feel and we need to be open about things.”
Meanwhile, the KKR is all set to take on the MI in their next IPL 2021 clash on Tuesday (April 13) and the two-time IPL champions will once against target MI's openers with spinners, as Harbhajan is likely to pose threat to Quinton de Kock while Shakib al Hasan will be pitted against Chris Lynn.
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Given the scenario, Morgan could rely on Harbhajan’s experience against MI who have won 21 games of their 27 encounters against the KKR as Kuldeep Yadav is currently struggling for form while Varun Chakravarthy has experience of just 15 IPL matches.
Harbhajan said of his role in the KKR set-up, “My role is to be ready to bowl at any point in time. Till the 20th over isn't bowled, my job is to be ready. I have to be around the bowlers and advice things to do and be there for everyone. My role is to tell them whatever's there on my mind. As a bowler, you need just one good ball to dismiss a good batsman.”
He signed off by saying, “You can't be thinking that'll give away one run and attack the other batsman. You have to keep thinking about picking wickets and not think about containing runs. That's what I talk to the bowlers. I talk to batsmen as well. I do talk to them about shot selection against spinners. I just want to be there for the players and give whatever knowledge I have.”
(With Cricbuzz Inputs)
