Not competing with Ashwin for a place in the team: Harbhajan

New Delhi Ravichandran Ashwins shoddy overseas performance in recent times might have enhanced Harbhajan Singhs chances of a return to the national side but the experienced offspinner says he is not competing with the Tamil Nadu tweaker for a place in the Indian teamIn all these years I have only had one competitor Thats me myself I have never liked competing with anyone read Ashwin and it has remained like that over the years International sport is a lonely journey You compete with ones self and try to grow as a cricketer Harbhajan told PTI in an exclusive interview todayHarbhajan Singh File PicNo point in competing with two three or four people Try your best and leave it for others to judge Also I dont want to say a single word about a current India player Harbhajan saidAshwin was ineffective during Indias disastrous tours of South Africa and New Zealand and received flak from former spinners Maninder Singh and Narendra Hirwani Infact former captain Sourav Ganguly called for Harbhajans return to the national team Harbhajan has been out of the India team for one year but the 33yearold spinner as always is relishing the challenge to fight his way back into national sideAsk if he had set any timeframe for himself he replied The operative word here I believe is not age but motivation Age is just a number If someone can perform at 45 who will stop that fellow from playing toplevel cricket For me its the motivation and passion to play the game at the highest level I still want to play for India and its important to realise how badly you want that I will continue playing as long as I can enjoy playing for India Harbhajan saidFor the man who has nearly 700 international wickets across three international formats including 413 in Tests it has been a learning experience of grinding it out in domestic cricket match after match after having enjoyed hero likestatus in the Indian team for more than a decadeIt is tough to play domestic cricket after playing more than 100 Tests 101 and 200odd ODIs 229 But then adverse situations are testimony to ones character Either you face the challenges in life head on or back out And I am not someone to back out from challenges Harbhajan saidI am not the only person to face these tough career situations There has been numerous examples of sportsmen fighting it out gutsily Only person who can wriggle me out of this situation is myself I am working hard and getting results also There are concerned people selectors who will take a call as to when I can be brought back in the national side Harbhajan saidAsk him about his philosophy of attacking bowling he explains that its not only about having closein fielders This is a wrong concept that you become an attacking bowler by placing closein fielders Your field placings are based on match situations If you are playing on a track that doesnt offer turn and bounce its useless to keep a closein fielder The ball will never get to him he saidIf you are playing on flat tracks fielders should be kept in positions where batsmen can offer you catch while driving If there are four fielders outside the circle then strategy is completely different from when you have five fielders outside the circleFor me making my intent clear to the batsman before he stamps his authority is important Playing with his mind is a way of attacking rather than setting attacking fields Harbhajan elaboratedHarbhajan has so far taken six wickets in four List A matches in the Vijay Hazare Trophy after 22 wickets in six firstclass matches this season The feisty offspinner has bowled well in the four matches so far coming to bowl often in the PowerplaysFor me each and every game is an opportunity In the last one year I have not done badly in the domestic matches that I have played My endeavour has been to work hard and get better at my game After Vijay Hazare there will be Mushtaq Ali Trophy followed by IPL Each and every tournament is a platform to get back into India team Harbhajan saidHarbhajan was disappointed that he sustained a shoulder injury just after he had got 17 wickets from the first two Ranji Trophy games and had to remain out of action for nearly six weeksIt wasnt the best time to get injured In fact there is no right time for an injury laughs I had worked a lot during my preseason and was starting to get wickets which is a result of that hardwork But then my shoulder gave away and I had to take leave for month and a half Ideally I would have liked to get close to 50 wickets in Ranji Trophy Bhajji saidIn fact my comeback to competitive cricket was a good one as I nearly got a century 92 in the quarterfinals against Jammu and Kashmir I didnt bowl much in the match 192 overs in all for two wickets as my pacers did a splendid job on a greenish track 17 of 20 JampK wickets were taken by trio of Sandeep Sharma MS Gony and VRV Singh Harbhajan has been bowling a lot with fielding restrictions on in the One dayers and he is loving it As a senior bowler and captain of the side I need to lead from the front I have to try and bowl in Powerplays as I have the confidence to restrict the batsmen I have bowled 12 overs in two matches as I felt I had a better chance to keep the batsmen quiet in slog overs by mixing it up I am happy with my economy rate 421 runs per over in four games he addedThe senior offspinner also quashed rumours that he will be fighting Lok Sabha elections on Congress ticket Yes I was approached by a few senior leaders and asked whether I would be interested in fighting elections from Punjab As of now I have no interest in joining politics as I still have a lot of cricket left in me Also if I join politics I need to have time to understand as to what I am getting into Theres time for everything and its the time for only focusing on my cricket career he concluded