Ahmedabad, Nov 9: Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, who scored his maiden Test hundred on the fifth day of the Ahmedabad Test, credited senior batsman VVS Laxman for the impressive feat. Harbhajan scored 115 runs and shared a crucial 163-runs partnership with Laxman for the seventh wicket to help India save the Test against a well-tuned New Zealand side.
After the day’s play, Harbhajan spoke about his maiden Test century, batting with India’s crisis man VVS Laxman and imitating Sachin Tendulkar’s stance before getting to the magic figure.
Excerpts from the interview.
On saving the Test match
Kamaal ho gaya. Ek stage par lag raha tha ki hum game se baahar ho gaye hain, phir partnership ho gayi (It’s unbelievable. At one stage it looked as if we were out of the game but then the partnership happened.) We knew we needed one good session and we have done it in the past. [VVS] Laxman and Ishant [Sharma] had done it in Mohali.
On the crucial first hour of play
I just wanted to bat normally.I just told myself that I needed to go out there and back myself. I was trying to play [every] ball on its merit and not play any silly shot. And thankfully, Laxman was there. He was advising me after every over. He was tapping my shoulder and telling me that I was batting well and I should carry on. It was great to have him on the other side. I think it was because of him that I got those runs - otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to make a hundred.
On VVS Laxman
He is a great batsman. It was great to have him with me. He gave me a lot of confidence. He has saved and won a lot of games for India. I am sure he will carry on like this in [this] series and then in South Africa.
On the celebrations in the dressing room after his hundred
Well, they all were happy. I couldn’t celebrate because I was too tired. Everyone was excited. More than [at] my hundred I was happy that we had saved the game. At one stage yesterday it looked as if we were in trouble.
On whether he ever expected to win a Man-of-the-Match award for his batting
No, not really. Not in the Test match [format] - may be in the one-dayers or the Twenty20s. I have been close to getting Man-of-the-Match awards in the shorter formats of the game - but it just happened. It is great to get my first hundred and a lot of credit [goes] to Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and all my well-wishers. They kept on telling me to go out there and score a hundred.
On imitating Sachin Tendulkar’s stance after getting to the three-figure mark
I was mocking Sachin Tendulkar. Woh hamesha kehte hain ki tere mein ability hai 100 runs banane ki magar tu hamesha lappa maar ke out ho jaata hai (Sachin tells me that I have the ability to score a century but I always get out to loose shots.) So I pointed to him [when I got to the hundred mark] and dedicated my century to him.
On New Zealand’s bowling performance
I think they bowled a lot of overs and they must be really tired. I think Daniel Vettori and Jeetan Patel will take at least two days off to recover. They bowled their hearts out. Hats off to them. I think Vettori and Chris Martin were brilliant. I have not seen many people coming to India and bowl like this. Martin’s five wickets for 15 runs was just exceptional.
