1983 win will inspire us : Harbhajan

 

As the country prepares to host its third cricket World Cup, leading spinner Harbhajan Singh has declared India “ready for the challenge”. “It’s great to have a lot of options in the team,” Harbhajan said.

“We’ve got a leg spinner in Piyush (Chawla) — he’s been great in the IPL — and Ashwin brings another variation to the bowling attack. We have great seamers and we have got the batting. “We can chase any kind of a target and I’m sure if we stay focused and we work on our process, we will definitely do well.”

The off-spinner went even further, declaring India’s opening batsmen could take the game away from opposition teams if they can stay at the crease. “(Sachin and Sehwag) are two outstanding players and I hope they will click. If they play the first 15 overs then the other teams will definitely be in danger.”

While India may be short price favourites to break a 27-year World Cup drought, the team are not getting ahead of themselves, taking inspiration from the 1983 triumph. “Kapil paaji (Dev) lifting the Cup was something that whenever I see that, I get goose bumps,” Harbhajan said. “Holding the trophy and winning the World Cup will be a special thing and hopefully we’ll play well and we’ll give ourselves a good chance to win the Cup.”