Pietersen will be tested more in India - Harbhajan

[mister]

Sep 7, 2008 | Harbhajan Singh Kevin Pietersen has obviously made a fantastic start to his captaincy career but I think he will find things a bit tougher when England come to India this year. I didn’t see those England matches as we were in Sri Lanka but to beat South Africa 4-0 is impressive. England must have played some special cricket to win a series so convincingly against such a top side as South Africa. England are looking strong under Kevin now, especially with ‘Freddie’ Flintoff back and firing with the bat and ball. He is a key man for them and his reverse swing will be a factor in India also. Kevin has always been a confident player – he’s always been that way when he bats - and he has taken that attitude into his captaincy, which has lifted the whole team. We know England are a good team and they played very well here on the last tour (1-1 in Test series in 2006) so we are looking forward to facing them after we face Australia, which is our priority for now. But India is probably the toughest place for the likes of England, Australia and South Africa to tour because they find it difficult to adjust to the heat and many other things. The wickets are nice to bat on and will test their bowlers, there is low bounce and it spins a lot more than in England. We will be competitive and hard to beat. As I have said there will be a lot of reverse swing, so that may give England a chance to pressurize us, but it always takes time for sides to adjust to our conditions. The India tour will definitely be a big challenge for Kevin as captain and then he has the Ashes next year so there are some huge games coming up. It’s too early to judge him as a captain at this stage. He has proved himself a great batsman but you need to give him maybe two years to assess him as a leader. But if his team is still winning after that amount of time then you will have to say he has been a great success. It will be interesting to see how he goes. Good luck to him. © Copyright bigstarcricket.com

[satishg]

when did Bhajji start writing cricket columns and which is the brilliant site or media thats printing bhajjis views :dontknow:

[Dravid]

ok..boo hooo

[CSK Fan]

Do Yuvraj and Bhajji alrenate between series to open their big mouths to media?

[fineleg]

Do Yuvraj and Bhajji alternate between series to open their big mouths to media?

Seems like it. Both cannot keep their mouths shut and focus on on-field performance.

[Dinx - the Jinx]

wats wrng with bajii quips?

[gs]

Bhajji is a proven shy.te except for 2 series - 2001 Aus and redeemed himself during 2008 SL series. So opening his big mouth before the series is annoying to say the least.

[Dinx - the Jinx]

Bhajji is a proven shy.te except for 2 series - 2001 Aus and redeemed himself during 2008 SL series. So opening his big mouth before the series is annoying to say the least

Thanks for the observation... If Bajji (a bit of help from Laxman and Dravid along the way) wasnt there, we would hve never had our hands on the BG trophy till date. We wud hve lost the 2001 series, drew the series in 2004 followed by losses in India (2004) and in Australia (2008). For this achievement alone, Bajji deserves the bragging rights

[gs]

Thanks for the observation... If Bajji (a bit of help from Laxman and Dravid along the way) wasnt there, we would hve never had our hands on the BG trophy till date. We wud hve lost the 2001 series, drew the series in 2004 followed by losses in India (2004) and in Australia (2008). For this achievement alone, Bajji deserves the bragging rights

Are you serious?!? It's been 7+ years since that BG trophy!!! Since then he has been regularly butchered by the Aussies both at home & away (barring Ponting). If this is the yardstick for performance, then why not bring Hirwani back?!? He did take 16 wickets against the mighty Windies and won us a test!!! Should Kapil be fingering Windies because he won us a WC against the then invincible Windies??? FFS man, only recent performance should be considered not some flash in a pan performance almost a decade ago!

[rahulrulezz]

bhajji never convinces me as a test bowler... his attitude so cowardly on flat pitches.. why play on a flat pitch if later on you gonna say " this pitch is flat as paratha"... every damn time he doesnt perform, he use this same excuse of flat pitchess... at best hez just a economical bowler and best suited for ODI...