 "You get to know how good you are when you play vs AUS: Harbhajan Singh")
As the Border-Gavaskar Trophy unfolds, former Indian cricket team members Harbhajan Singh and Ishant Sharma relived the golden moments of the prestigious series on Star Sports’ special talk show “Time-out”. From sharing memorable on-field moments to hilarious behind-the-scenes anecdotes, the duo candidly discussed what it was like to take on Australia together. *
Speaking exclusively on Star Sports’ “Time-out”, Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh reflected on what it feels like to play and win against a team like Australia. He said:
“It was our job. We were playing to win against Australia. You get to know how good of a player you are when you play against a bigger team like Australia, and Australia was a very good team. They were the number one team. If you want to know your capabilities, you have to play against the best. That's what we did. We tried. We tried and stayed determined. Whenever we played against Australia, we had to put in some extra effort. Because they were a very good team.”
When asked about off-field relations with Australian players and whether any rivalries from on-field encounters linger, Harbhajan shared:
“No, those memories are confined to the ground. Now, I meet Matthew Hayden as if he is my long lost brother. Because we work in broadcasting, we work for the same production house, we work for Star Sports. So, all those things have mellowed down. Those memories are for the field. In the IPL, when you start sharing the dressing room with each other, you get to know each other better. So, I understood that just like us, they also work hard for their team. They work hard to make their country win. In that, everything is fair. Like in love and war, everything is fair. So, when you are on the field, everything is right. But things shouldn't extend beyond the field. Giving each other those fiery looks should be limited to the field only.”
| Matthew Hayden vs Harbhajan Singh in Tests | ||||||||
| Year | Runs | Balls | Outs | Dots | 4s | 6s | SR | Avg |
| 2003 | 24 | 20 | 1 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 120 | 24 |
| 2004 | 75 | 132 | 3 | 92 | 7 | 2 | 56.8 | 25 |
| 2007 | 24 | 33 | 1 | 20 | 2 | 0 | 72.7 | 24 |
| 2008 | 103 | 171 | 2 | 117 | 14 | 0 | 60.2 | 51.5 |
Indian pacer Ishant Sharma, speaking exclusively on Star Sports’ Time-out, shared his thoughts on playing against Australia:
“Generally, we used to try to do our best, if you play against a team that is dominant in world cricket, you have to put in some extra effort. When I went there for the first time, I didn't have any idea. I used to just bowl. We didn't know much back then. I just focused on doing the simple things.”