KINGSTON ( Jamaica): Two weeks ahead of his 31st birthday, 13 years after he first made his Test debut, Harbhajan Singh looks like he's finally discovered the art of batting he may have never thought he was blessed with.
While two Test successive centuries in a series is already a feat enough for a bowler-turning-into-a-batsman to make himself count, the 74-ball 70 that came off Harbhajan's bat at the Sabina Park in Kingston on Monday afternoon should rank as far more superior to what he accomplished in Ahmedabad and Hyderabad last year, as it came in tougher conditions.
India were tottering at 85/6 when he walked out to replace Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The skipper and two of the team's most experienced batsmen, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman, had all been dismissed cheaply and in a manner almost similar.
The conditions weren't as threatening as the pressure that engulfed the middle-order. To walk into a situation like that and score a run-a-ball half century spoke volumes of the way Bhajji batted.
Indian batsmen insisted that they had not misread the pitch when they won the toss and elected to bat first. They were simply going by the logic that when in doubt, bat first.
However, the hosts kept claiming at the end of the day that had the coin favoured them, they'd still have liked to bowl on the Sabina track on Day 1.
There was bounce in the track, which was expected, but there was very sharp turn too, which caught India on the wrong foot. No batsman would've called it a pleasant situation to take guard in the middle. Perhaps, that was the reason Harbhajan succeeded.
He wasn't a batsman walking out there to save his team the blushes or to enhance his own reputation. He was a bowler, a tailender walking out to try and see in what way he could contribute with Suresh Raina - the last recognisable face in the middle-order - at the other end. The pressure should've been psychologically lesser than what he is used to while bowling. Harbhajan tried to stick to his 'natural game'.
Harbhajan has been fortunate enough to be around Sachin Tendulkar for a decade, watching him from close quarters. He has often been told by Tendulkar that he has the ability to bat. "Just play your natural game", Tendulkar has told Harbhajan many times.
And that's what he did to stem the rot and keep India alive.
Raina, at the other end, kept himself busy driving away a few of his own demons. The talk of him not being able to handle the short stuff well, that he has been trying too hard to push the ball away, not being able to create a balance between when to resist and when to attack - all these factors had been troubling him coming into the Test, as he admitted later.
His 82 was the backbone of India's first innings score of 246 and he should've earned his century if not for that sudden lapse in concentration as batsmen perished at the other end. However, had Harbhajan not taken the pressure off him, as he took the shine off the leather, it wouldn't have been very easy for Raina to accomplish what he did.
To the off-spinner's credit, he banished every bad ball with such disdain that it only increased the West Indies quota of wayward bowling spells. It was important to disturb Devendra Bishoo's line early on because the thin-framed leg-spinner was looking so dangerous - with wickets of Dravid, Laxman and Dhoni to count for. "You didn't know what to expect. The wicket was turning and there was bounce. It was important to watch the bowler's arm and look for the shine of the ball before attempting to play," Raina explained later.
As for Harbhajan, he kept his cool. You only had to watch the way he drove anything loose outside the off stump and pulled away anything short that came his way. When there was a mix-up in running between the wickets, he walked up to Raina and comforted him.
He retained his arrogance when Fidel Edwards and Ravi Rampaul attempted some mild sledging and kept taking off his helmet time and again to dry off the sweat around his turban.
Harbhajan the-batsman scored his first big knock in a Test match which wasn't a hundred but probably far more crucial. Tendulkar should be proud.
toi
While two Test successive centuries in a series is already a feat enough for a bowler-turning-into-a-batsman to make himself count, the 74-ball 70 that came off Harbhajan's bat at the Sabina Park in Kingston on Monday afternoon should rank as far more superior to what he accomplished in Ahmedabad and Hyderabad last year, as it came in tougher conditions.
India were tottering at 85/6 when he walked out to replace Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The skipper and two of the team's most experienced batsmen, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman, had all been dismissed cheaply and in a manner almost similar.
The conditions weren't as threatening as the pressure that engulfed the middle-order. To walk into a situation like that and score a run-a-ball half century spoke volumes of the way Bhajji batted.
Indian batsmen insisted that they had not misread the pitch when they won the toss and elected to bat first. They were simply going by the logic that when in doubt, bat first.
However, the hosts kept claiming at the end of the day that had the coin favoured them, they'd still have liked to bowl on the Sabina track on Day 1.
There was bounce in the track, which was expected, but there was very sharp turn too, which caught India on the wrong foot. No batsman would've called it a pleasant situation to take guard in the middle. Perhaps, that was the reason Harbhajan succeeded.
He wasn't a batsman walking out there to save his team the blushes or to enhance his own reputation. He was a bowler, a tailender walking out to try and see in what way he could contribute with Suresh Raina - the last recognisable face in the middle-order - at the other end. The pressure should've been psychologically lesser than what he is used to while bowling. Harbhajan tried to stick to his 'natural game'.
Harbhajan has been fortunate enough to be around Sachin Tendulkar for a decade, watching him from close quarters. He has often been told by Tendulkar that he has the ability to bat. "Just play your natural game", Tendulkar has told Harbhajan many times.
And that's what he did to stem the rot and keep India alive.
Raina, at the other end, kept himself busy driving away a few of his own demons. The talk of him not being able to handle the short stuff well, that he has been trying too hard to push the ball away, not being able to create a balance between when to resist and when to attack - all these factors had been troubling him coming into the Test, as he admitted later.
His 82 was the backbone of India's first innings score of 246 and he should've earned his century if not for that sudden lapse in concentration as batsmen perished at the other end. However, had Harbhajan not taken the pressure off him, as he took the shine off the leather, it wouldn't have been very easy for Raina to accomplish what he did.
To the off-spinner's credit, he banished every bad ball with such disdain that it only increased the West Indies quota of wayward bowling spells. It was important to disturb Devendra Bishoo's line early on because the thin-framed leg-spinner was looking so dangerous - with wickets of Dravid, Laxman and Dhoni to count for. "You didn't know what to expect. The wicket was turning and there was bounce. It was important to watch the bowler's arm and look for the shine of the ball before attempting to play," Raina explained later.
As for Harbhajan, he kept his cool. You only had to watch the way he drove anything loose outside the off stump and pulled away anything short that came his way. When there was a mix-up in running between the wickets, he walked up to Raina and comforted him.
He retained his arrogance when Fidel Edwards and Ravi Rampaul attempted some mild sledging and kept taking off his helmet time and again to dry off the sweat around his turban.
Harbhajan the-batsman scored his first big knock in a Test match which wasn't a hundred but probably far more crucial. Tendulkar should be proud.
toi
