“Don’t need to play domestic cricket”: Harbhajan Singh confident of doing well for KKR in IPL 2021 despite lack of match-practice

Dixit Bhargav | 31/03/2021
"Don't need to play domestic cricket": Harbhajan Singh confident of doing well for KKR in IPL 2021 despite lack of match-practice

Harbhajan Singh confident of doing well for KKR: The veteran spinner laid emphasis on using his experience in the cash-rich league.

Ahead of the 14th season of the Indian Premier League, veteran India spinner Harbhajan Singh considers that his new IPL franchise in Kolkata Knight Riders has a “good team”.

“We have a good team. T20 is all about three players in a team, could be any three, clicking on that particular day. You see Mumbai Indians are a side which has all its bases covered but they are still beatable. It could be a Rahul Tripathi or a Nitish Rana can win it for us,” Harbhajan Singh was quoted as saying by PTI.

Harbhajan, who was released by Chennai Super Kings earlier this year, was eventually bought by Knight Riders for his base price of INR 2 crore after initially remaining unsold in this auction. Having missed IPL 2020 due to “personal reasons“, Harbhajan will join KKR after spending 10 and three years at Mumbai Indians and CSK respectively.

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“Last year, when IPL happened, Covid-19 in India was at its peak. I was concerned about my family and also about hard quarantine in India after coming back. But this year, it’s happening in India and also we have now got used to new normal. Vaccines have come. Also it’s my family which pushed. My wife told me that I should go and play,” Harbhajan talked about missing IPL 2020 in the UAE.

Harbhajan Singh confident of doing well for KKR in IPL 2021

Harbhajan, whose last competitive match had come almost a couple of years ago, remains unperturbed about lack of match practice. Having played competitive cricket for more than two decades now, the off-spinner is confident of doing “what needs to be done”.

“These questions [about playing after a gap] are asked because I haven’t played a lot of cricket of late so teams are a bit defensive at auction and they don’t want to bid for me.

“But let me remind all that when I did well for CSK in 2019 IPL, I hadn’t played any domestic cricket. I came to the camp, prepared and went into the match. At my level and experience, I know what needs to be done,” Harbhajan said.

In 24 T20s for Super Kings across two seasons, Harbhajan had picked 23 wickets at an average of 25.30, an economy rate of 7.67 and a strike rate of 19.78. Apart from the IPL, Harbhajan had last played for Punjab in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2018-19. As far as the First-class and List A formats are concerned, the 40-year old player’s last appearances had come way back in 2017.

“I don’t need to play domestic cricket for Punjab and stop a young talent from flourishing. That boy needs that chance more than me,” Harbhajan added.

Post Edited By: Dixit Bhargav
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About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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