Harbhajan springs to Yuvraj’s defence

Says it’s just a matter of one good knock, and predicts the southpaw will fire against Lanka

CANBERRA: Harbhajan Singh has strongly defended out-of-form colleague Yuvraj Singh, stating the vice-captain is a champion batsman and the team is not worried about him.

On the eve of India’s fourth match of the VB Series, Harbhajan said: “Yuvi  is a champion player and we are not worried about his form. It’s just a matter of one game and he will start making runs. Hopefully he will start making runs tomorrow itself.”

He rubbished talks about his technique and emphasised his utility for the side. “In difficult situations, he has scored runs for India. He’s a top player and among the top-10 batsmen in the world.”

Harbhajan, however, refused to disclose the line-up for Tuesday’s game. “I don’t know what would be the combination but whatever the team, it will be one to win. All our players are match-winners.”

He said India have gained in confidence with their big win over Australia and are confident of beating Lanka at the Manuka Oval. “It’s nice to have a win. It was very important for all of us to play well against Australia. We’re now looking forward to tomorrow’s game. We have played Sri Lanka a lot and we know their strengths and weaknesses. We’ve our own strengths too without worrying about them. If we play to our potential, we can beat them.”

The offie said the team is not too worried about Muttiah Muralitharan. “In Brisbane we played him well. He got two early wickets but he gave away 50-odd runs. It was very good the way Gautam and Dhoni played against him.”

Harbhajan gave credit to team’s assistant coach Lalchand Rajput for his new-found success with the bat. “I’ve worked hard on my batting and the credit goes to our coach. He has been looking after my batting in the nets.”

He was also all praise for Ishant Sharma, who was man-of-the-match against Australia on Sunday.

“He is a guy who’s improved a lot from the Pakistan game in Bangalore. He is running in, bowling his heart out, bowling in the right areas. He is in good rhythm. It’s good to have Sreesanth and Irfan bowl well too and our fast bowling has been strong.”

Bhajji, however, said he did not think Ishant needs a break. “He is just 19. There shouldn’t be any break for any player. We should be looking forward to play every game. I don’t feel tired when I play for my country.”

Harbhajan said the team is looking for a good finish in the tournament as they had got the start they planned.