'Batting is strong'

India’s batting line-up led by Virat Kohli can chase any total on a given day but bowlers need to stand up and be counted, in order to retain the cricket World Cup, feels ace spinner Harbhajan Singh.

“India possess a fabulous batting line-up with Virat Kohli, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane forming the core but we would need the likes of Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Shami to perform like Zaheer Khan, in order to retain the World Cup,” Harbhajan, a key member of the victorious 2011 World Cup squad, told PTI in an exclusive interview.

Harbhajan then did an elaborate analysis on what can be expected of Indian bowlers at the World Cup. “I think we would be playing with four specialist bowlers and may be an all-rounder (Stuart Binny). With the field restrictions and two new balls, I believe we need at least three bowlers to perform on any given day out of four,” stated Harbhajan.

Harbhajan is of the opinion that India’s spin trio-Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel will find it advantageous to bowl on hard Australian pitches.