He may have just aged 40, but off-spinner Harbhajan Singh still feels confident enough of beating the best of contemporary tweakers around the country in a battle of skill.
Harbhajan hasn't played for India since 2016, but hasn't completely given up on a comeback either, especially in the T20I version, as he had himself said earlier this year.
The 'turbanator', as he is famously called, boasts of over 700 international wickets having played 103 Tests, 236 ODIs and 28 T20Is.
"If you still want to test me by pitting me for a battle of skills against those youngsters you consider best in the business, please bring it on," Harbhajan told PTI.
"You can talk about age if the ball while fielding goes between your legs or your knees are gone or you have done in shoulder which is the reason you can't give that force."
"But yes, I have been on the field wearing those India colours for at least 800 days (playing time). I have been an achiever who doesn't need anyone's sympathy. But yes, if it's about skills, bring the best in India and I am still ready," he added.
In IPL, Harbhajan continues to feature and do well for Chennai Super Kings (CSK). But how has he managed that despite not playing any domestic cricket in between? "To each his own. If someone feels he wants game time, good for him. If I bowl 2000 balls at the nets for a month, the amount of top-level cricket I have played, it's good enough," says the man with an economy rate of only 7.05 after 160 games in the league.
Some of the youngsters that will play in IPL 2020 weren't even born when Harbhajan made his Test debut for India, a fact he laughs over.
"It seems that you are trying to make me realize that I am too old but on a serious note if you see I started when Mohammed Azharuddin was the India captain. It has been a brilliant journey, full of ups and downs and I am grateful to God that I could live my dream for over two decades," he said.
"You always feel that you can achieve more but you should always be grateful for the opportunities you got to achieve what you wanted to - that is win matches for your country."
"What I couldn't achieve for India? Well I would say, "shayad woh mere muqaddar mein thaa hi nahi par woh ek doosra nazariya hoga" (it was probably not in my destiny but that's a different perspective)," Harbhajan added.
The lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic has given Harbhajan a lot more time to focus on his fitness and training regime. He says he is feeling good about himself and doesn't necessarily think the IPL 2020 will be his last.
"I can't say whether this will be my last IPL. It depends on my body. After four months of workout, rest, yoga sessions, I feel reinvigorated just like 2013, when I had 24 wickets in that IPL edition," he concluded.
