I bowled the best among all bowlers against South Africa: Harbhajan Singh

Harbhajan Singh picked up six wickets in the four ODIs he played in the bilateral series, which India lost 3-2, against South Africa, at an economy rate of 5.3 runs per over. He was the highest Indian wicket-taker after Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and the news of his exclusion from the ODI squad for Australia did come as a surprise to him.

“It is not up to me. I did really well against South Africa, considering the fact that I was out of the ODI team for a while. I bowled the best among all bowlers.

“I won two games for India out of four games I played. But when I saw the Indian team announced for the ODI series to Australia, I was not part of it. Obviously, they have a few reasons, which is fine. Maybe they are looking at a bigger picture and I am not there in that picture,” Bhajji said in an interview with Times of India.

After the ODI series loss, India bounced back in the Test series to win it 3-0. But the Indian pitches came under a lot of criticism as two of those three wins came in matches which ended on the third day. Harbhajan feels that Test matches should last for four to five days. He said, “I feel there should be home advantage. Playing at home is in itself an advantage. But then Test matches should last for four to five days. It should not get over in two days and that's my personal opinion”.

Harbhajan also praised the form of Ravichandran Ashwin, and believes he has earned his spot in the team as the No.1 spinner. He said, “You have to earn your spot. Ashwin is the No.1 spinner because he has done so well. A guy who performs well will become the first choice. He is a decent bowler and was brilliant last year. Obviously, he played a lot of cricket on wickets which helped spinners. I thought he bowled exceptionally well in Sri Lanka, especially in the third Test where it was not assisting the spinners too much. This is the best I have seen him bowl. He bowled with great rhythm. He is doing the right thing by looking to bowl more off-spinners. I hope he continues to do so”.

Harbhajan feels Virat Kohli, India's current Test captain, will do a 'great job' for the country in the years to come. “The kind of energy Virat (brings) to the table is brilliant. He is a phenomenal player. He is someone who is always there in the game and wants to make things happen. He is aggressive and will take chances. I think he will do a great job for Indian cricket for many years.” he opined. (Read: Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma decide to tie the knot! (Satire))

Bhajji will feature in the T20 matches though, and spinner said that the prospect of facing Australia always lifts his game. “You want to perform, you want to beat them and be in their face. I tend to lift my game against Australia. It will be no different this time around,” he added.