'He played cricket the Aussie way, always in your face and aggressive': Steve Waugh heaps praise on Harbhajan Singh
Steve Waugh, who was the captain of the touring Australian side when Harbhajan Singh first made his name in the international circuit while making a comeback to the Indian side, said the off-spinner was aggressive, in your face and positive.
Legendary Australian cricketer Steve Waugh heaped praise on veteran India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, saying that he played cricket the ‘Aussie way’. Waugh, who was the captain of the touring Australian side when Harbhajan first made his name in the international circuit while making a comeback to the Indian side, said the off-spinner was aggressive, in your face and positive.
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“He played in the same vein, the same spirit and the same method as we did. That’s probably why we found him a bit prickly because it was like playing against ourselves in the opposition. He played cricket the Aussie way. He was in your face, a bit of talk, aggressive, positive and he backed himself,” Waugh told cricketaustralia.com.au.
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Describing the reasons behind Harbhajan’s success, Waugh said the off-spinner relied heavily on bat and pad as he always used to get a lot of bounce from the pitch. “He wasn’t a traditional off-spinner. He got a bit overspin and bounce. It wasn’t always the sharp turn, but the subtle variations and bounce. Got caught bat-pad pretty regularly off him,” said Waugh.
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When asked to talk about the 2001 series in India which the Sourav Ganguly-led side won 2-1 on the back of a brilliant bowling performance from Harbhajan, who picked up 32 wickets in three Tests, Waugh said the Australian batsmen couldn't counter his bounce.
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“He won the series for India in 2001. 32 wickets in 3 Tests. We just couldn’t counteract his bounce. He got this amazing bounce off the length. Every spell he bowled against, he dominated us. Incredible strike rate bowled a lot of overs and was consistent,” Waugh mentioned.
“Hayden probably took him on and did well, but the rest of us really couldn’t find a way to get on top of him. Without him, we would have won the series. A very influential figure, particularly against us.”
