da leao： Not content with being his team’s best bowling bet, off-spinnerHarbhajan Singh is silently preparing for a personal battle as well,as India take on Zimbabwe in the first Test starting here tomorrowseeking their first series win outside the
da bet esporte： 06-Jun-2001Not content with being his team’s best bowling bet, off-spinnerHarbhajan Singh is silently preparing for a personal battle as well,as India take on Zimbabwe in the first Test starting here tomorrowseeking their first series win outside the sub-continent in 15 years.Harbhajan will be up against Andy Flower, arguably one of the bestplayers of spin in contemporary cricket and one who has troubled theIndians the most in recent times.Flower is in tremendous touch having just equalled a world record ofseven successive half-centuries, the streak getting broken when he wasrun out for 23 against Bangladesh in the Harare Test in April.He has perfected the reverse sweep to deadly effect and has an awesomerecord against India, aggregating 848 runs from five Tests at aremarkable average of 169.60. He remained unconquered in half of these10 innings and three hundreds and four fifties speak volumes about theability of this left-hander.Incidentally, the only Test against India where Flower could notmanage a half-century in either innings was the one in which Harbhajanfeatured – the one-off Test in Harare in 1998. Though the young offspinner did not get Flower out, he had a five wicket haul from his 35overs.Harbhajan, who earned the title of ‘turbonator’ after destroying theAustralians by claiming 32 wickets in three Tests, has his strategyplanned out against Flower.”There is no point in bowling defensively to him – he usually cloutsthem to the deep field,” says Harbhajan. “He must be bowled up to andencouraged to drive all the time.”Flower is keeping his plans close to his chests but there is littledoubt he has noticed the big tweak Harbhajan imparts in his spin andthe kind of bounce he manages on the most dull tracks. Harbhajan hasalso developed a good drift and has hit the straps straightaway with aten wicket haul in the three-day match against CFX Academy.Coach John Wright and captain Saurav Ganguly too were anticipating afascinating contest between the two and hoping that Harbhajan becomesthe nemesis for Flower’s exploits.”It will be a good test for Harbhajan because Andy (Flower) is in aclass of his own against the spinners,” Wright said.Ganguly was very pleased with Harbhajan’s form. “He was simply superbagainst CFX the other day. He was getting the ball to bounce andgetting a keen bite on what was really a dull track,” he said.Wright felt it would have helped the spinner a great deal had he got asupporting slow bowler from the other end who could keep the scoringin check. Harbhajan himself is not complaining though. He has a bouncein his steps and is obviously aware that success in this battle willadd to the aura that has surrounded him since the Australian series.
