JOIN USOn the eve of the second one-dayer, skipper MS Dhoni admitted the off-spinner wasn’t bowling as well as he could.
“He is an experienced bowler, but everybody has his off-days. He is going through a patch where he is not bowling at his best,” said Dhoni on Tuesday.
Barring a five-wicket haul in the tri-series final against Sri Lanka last month, Harbhajan has done little of note in the last ten matches to justify his talent and stature.
The Punjab bowler has conceded 464 runs and taken just 13 wickets. In Vadodara, took one for 57 from 10 overs, and was outbowled by Aussie counterpart Nathan Hauritz, who did an excellent job on the same track, sending down nine tight overs.
“He is bowling well but not at his best,” Dhoni went on. “The kind of individual that he is, he always bounces back and he loves challenges. We have a lot of confidence in him.
“He is spending time in the nets working on his bowling. He is batting well, but we would like him to bowl much better than what he is doing now. But we are not too worried,” the Indian skipper said.
Dhoni also backed medium-pacer Praveen Kumar. “He bowled well with the new ball,” said Dhoni in defence of Praveen, who went for plenty on Sunday, before playing a brisk knock along with Harbhajan.
“He did bowl a few bad deliveries that went for fours but there were a few that got the edge but didn’t carry to the slips and went for boundaries. The score card shows he gave away 70-odd runs in ten overs but if you see his bowling, he bowled much better than that. He is a bit confused when it comes to death bowling, though,” he explained.