Bajji keen to make a comeback

LONDON: Harbhajan Singh says he would not let his prime goal of getting back into the Indian cricket team distract him from his immediate task of helping Surrey get promoted to the top division of county championship.

The Punjab off-spinner, overlooked by the national selectors for tour of England, said the presence of the Indian team on the English soil made it all the more important for him to do well for Surrey.

"It's great to play my cricket over here because the India side is in this country too at the moment. If I do get the call from India I'll play and take some wickets for them, but at the moment I'm just looking to take Surrey to the next level," Harbhajan said.

"Once I found out I was not part of the India team touring England I made a few calls to local people over here and they were very keen to have me back," Harbhajan was quoted as saying by the 'South London' website on Saturday.

"I know it's not been a great season for Surrey so far but there is still a lot of cricket to go. I'm sure if we play some quality stuff we should be able to turn the table around. We've got the team that can win games, we've done it before.

"This is a great opportunity for me. I'm just going to go out and play the way that I can play and try and get lots and lots of wickets for my team," the 27-year-old, who has taken 238 wickets and scored 986 runs in 57 Test matches.

Harbhajan had an immediate impact by helping the former champions to a six-wicket victory over Durham this week.