S Sreesanth and Harbhajan Singh were brilliant in the last segment of play yesterday complementing each other perfectly
S Sreesanth and Harbhajan Singh were brilliant in the last segment of play yesterday complementing each other perfectly. Harbhajan rotated the strike well and also encouraged his younger partner to go after the bowling when convinced the time was right. "Kya batting kar raha hain Bhajjibhai," exclaimed Sreesanth. "And not only did he bat superbly, he guided me in the middle just like God," he added.
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| Harbhajan Singh whacks one through the off-side yesterday. Pic/AFP |
Harbhajan is now 15 shy of his second and consecutive Test hundred.
So impressive was Harbhajan's knock, that even Rahul Dravid, who is not one to go over the top with his statements, compared the offie to one of the greatest all-rounders the game has seen. In a lighter vein, Dravid labelled Harbhajan Singh as the "new Garry Sobers".
Such performances by players get teammates excited and Dravid cannot be blamed if he spoke about Harbhajan and the legendary West Indian all-rounder in the same breath.
Harbhajan's unbeaten 85 off only 82 balls took India to a position of strength on Day Three of the second Test against New Zealand at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium yesterday. India reached 436 for nine with Sreesanth not out on 14. It can be recalled that Harbhajan had slapped Sreesanth during the inaugural edition of the IPL at Mohali in 2008. Sreesanth was representing hosts Kings XI Punjab while Harbhajan was playing for Mumbai Indians. But there wasn't a trace of bitterness when they put on an unbroken, 69-run partnership for the last wicket.
"Hopefully, Bhajji will get another hundred like he did in the last Test match at Ahmedabad where he saved us.
He is dominating the bowlers very well," said Dravid, who admired the way the Sardar of Spin has worked hard on his batting over the years. "He has improved by the day as a batsman and is now a clean striker of the ball," stressed Dravid, who scored 45 before being trapped leg before wicket by paceman Tim Southee.u00a0
VVS Laxman, who is playing his maiden Test at his home city, Hyderabad was all set to score a fairy tale hundred but he perished via a leg before decision of a Chris Martin delivery for 74 off 160 balls.
Earlier, in the first session, Sachin Tendulkar tried to attack Daniel Vettori only to be caught wonderfully by Ross Taylor for 13. It was a big wicket for sure, but no praise can be too high for Taylor who took a blinder.
