New Delhi: Cricketer Harbhajan Singh has praised star batsman Virat Kohli's aggressive stance as, what he called, "a great sign for Indian cricket to achieve difficult heights".
Replying to queries from Rajat Sharma in the show Aap Ki Adalat, to be telecast on India TV tonight, Singh said: "It's good to see the way Virat Kohli conducts himself. I feel this is the brilliant way forward for Indian cricket. Going to play with the right body language, fighting it out for India with a zeal to get the right result, we need such a spirit, which Virat Kohli has, whether its his own or he may have taken it from me, I feel it's a great sign for Indian cricket, to take India to difficult heights."
On the present state of world cricket, Harbhajan Singh said, "in my opinion today India faces challenge from three big teams, South Africa, Australia and England . I feel as far as other teams are concerned, we can win seven out of 10 matches against them."
Asked how he felt playing against Pakistan team, Singh said, "as a player, I feel great after defeating a big team. In those days the Pakistan team was great, it had players like Wasim Akram, Waqar Younus, Saqlain Mushtaq and Shoaib Akhtar. For us that used to be a special game, a special moment. I feel media creates too much hype for India-Pakistan matches."
Harbhajan Singh said, there were often angry spats on the ground with Pakistani players during which they exchanged hot words. "Shoaib Akhtar abused me a lot. He was such a man, who used to sit with us, ate with us. Since he was too close to us, maybe he used to take us for granted. In a match, he challenged me to hit a sixer, and when I hit a six, he was shocked. He then bowled two consecutive bouncers at me, which I evaded, he then abused, and I replied back. But after the game, we sat together in the evening, as if nothing happened. I can't share the words that we publicly used in our abuses. Today I am a bit ashamed because we used such words publicly despite being good friends."
Harbhajan Singh said, "Shoaib Akhtar once threatened me saying he would come to my room and beat me . I told him, come, let's see who beats whom. I was really scared. He is a great hulk (saanda). He once bashed me and Yuvi (Yuvraj Singh) inside a room. Since he was heavy, it was difficult to catch him. Even three persons can't hold him down. But yet we are friends. On the grounds, we may have occasional spats, but we play for our respective countries."
On his frequent spats with Australian players, Harbhajan Singh said: "The Australians felt as if they were the biggest superstars, nobody can beat them, they always looked to dominate. But we hailed from that generation which was never docile. More particularly, I come from Punjab, and Punjabis by nature always speak out their minds.
"I was batting and (Darren) Lehmann was continuously sledging me. I also replied. He had a huge stomach , and his slack string used to hang out like Shakti Kapoor's. I was so much perturbed over his sledging that I pointed towards his abdomen and asked: 'Are you pregnant?' Lehmann told this to Shane Warne who burst out laughing. Warne asked me whether I said this. ..Well, players shouldn't have such huge stomachs."
"Another Australian player (Glenn) McGrath sledged me a lot. He used to sledge after bowling each ball. He felt, who's this guy playing after I have dismissed top batsmen. Then I replied back to his sledging. He used to sledge once, I replied thrice, he sledged twice, I replied five times. A time came, when the Australians stopped sledging me."
On the infamous spat with Australian player Andrew Symonds, Harbhajan Singh said: "I didn't say monkey. It was their allegation. I only told him - 'teri maa ki...haath ki roti khaane ko bada dil kar raha hai' (smiling). He didn't listen at all. Anyway, he didnt know Hindi, and I don't know English."
On his frequent angry outbursts, Harbhajan said: "There are many apart from me. When I play, I feel I am in a competitive zone. I only think about how to win the match for India. I concentrated on how best I can play."
On the infamous incident in which Sreesanth was slapped, Harbhajan said: "Actually, he did a 'nautanki' (drama). It was my fault that I did that (slapping) on the ground. I have admitted in all my interviews that I committed this mistake in my life. I was guilty in the Sreesanth episode, and I am ashamed even today, but the way he wept, as if I slapped him very hard. But anyhow that was something obviously which everybody will remember that I made a mistake. I am again saying, I'm sorry."
Harbhajan Singh recalled how he once believed in a totem in order to win matches.
Asked what totem he used in a game where players often use red handkerchief, or a particular pad or a bat as good omen, Harbhajan replied: "God. I never kept any handkerchief. Yes, but I once had a supporter. By supporter, I mean, underwear. It was a series, in which I took 32 wickets. The first day, I put on the supporter, my socks, shorts, and pads, and I took five wickets. I had a belief that this could be a good omen. I repeated the same, and got a haul of seven wickets. Ultimately, I repeated so often, that the supporter and socks had holes in them."
The all-rounder said, he would be writing his autobiography soon, and any producer was welcome to make a biopic based on his book . "In my autobiography, I will definitely write what I did to move forward in my life, where I faced obstacles, and how I overcome those difficulties. Every person's life has ups and downs, there are struggles, and I faced them in my life too."
Harbhajan Singh recounted an incident in which he, Yuvraj Singh and Zaheer Khan once hauled the great Sachin Tendulkar and threw him into a jacuzzi. "Sachin Tendulkar Paaji has a great sense of humour. His oneliners are great, which normally one never hears."
On the new national coach Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh said: "Anilbhai is a man I respect a lot. I played with him for many years. I learnt one thing from him in life - 'Don't ever give up'. He was a cricketer with a serious bent on mind. He knows my mischievous nature. I don't think he had any problems with me ever."
"I agree Anilbhai had to sit outside because of me, because in those days I was playing well. I myself felt bad seeing him sit outside, because I was only 20 then, I was doing well, and my captain chose me."
Asked how he felt sitting outside with youngsters taking over, Harbhajan replied: "That is part of Karma. Youngsters who do well, do get the chance. I've been playing for 18 years. Today's generation is hardly 20 to 22 years old. But I have experience on my side, which the youngsters lack."
Rajat Sharma's Aap Ki Adalat show featuring Harbhajan Singh will be telecast tonight at 10 pm on India TV. Repeat telecasts will be made tomorrow Sunday at 10 am and 10 pm.
