Harbhajan Singh reveals the 'burning desire' in him to play for India again

Harbhajan picked Dhoni and Raina in the same over last night

Mumbai Indians offspinner Harbhajan Singh has once again reiterated his desire to play for the Indian team. After putting up a stellar show last night where he picked the wickets of Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni in the same over to help his side beat the Chennai Super Kings and reach the finals, Bhajji spoke to iplt20.com about ‘the burning desire’ inside of him wanting to don the national jersey again.

"There is this burning desire inside me to make it back to the Indian team," Harbhajan said. "That is the reason I am playing cricket. Playing for India is the most satisfying thing and the biggest motivation for me. Every day I wake up with a dream and that is to get back into that Indian side. All I tell myself is to continue to bowl. I am making sure that I tick all the boxes that I have chalked out for myself."

"Hopefully I can make a comeback to Test matches. That is what I want to do. Hopefully with the kind of performances I am putting in, I will get there where I want to be," Harbhajan said. "I realise there is competition and there always has been competition. But I have been there and done well. Why can't I do it again? I don't think I am old, I am playing competitive cricket and pretty happy about it."

Even though Harbhajan is MI’s second leading wicket-taker this season, he played only three Ranji matches this season picking up six wickets. It’s been two years since he played a Test match for India as he lost his spot to Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.

Dhoni and Raina’s wickets were the key

He also spoke about the importance of removing Dhoni and Raina soon since the duo had the ability to turn a match in their side’s favour easily once they are settled. "We knew if we had to win this game we had to get Raina and Dhoni out. These two have been brilliant for Super Kings and for India as well. I just wanted to bowl to the best of my abilities. I had a set plan for them, which was to look to get them out rather than be defensive against them.

"Dhoni is a match-winner and getting his wicket changed the match for us. I felt good about it because I knew if he played 20 balls, it would be a different game altogether for us and for them. It was quite satisfying to get his wicket."