Out of favour Indian cricket team off-spinner, Harbhajan Singh says he is more focussed on cricket than politics.
There is a huge buzz in Punjab that the Indian star is getting ready to contest from Jalandhar on a Congress ticket in the upcoming Punjab elections, but the tweaker has denied any political inclination.
"I don't know where this came from but let me make it very clear that I have no intention of joining any party or contesting any elections as of now. I am soon going to play for Punjab in Mushtaq Ali T-20 tournament and cricket is my only priority," Harbhajan told India Today.
"I haven't spoken to anybody so I don't know who and why these rumours are being spread," he added.
Earlier, Captain Amrinder Singh who is in the race to become the next Chief Minister of Punjab had reportedly said that his party, the Congress were ready to have Harbhajan join them. Interestingly, former Indian team star Navjot Singh Sidhu will be joining the Congress in a few days time.
Even though he has not been playing international cricket Harbhajan has been stealing the headlines for a few days for all the wrong reasons.
A few months back he had accused India’s star offspinner Ravichandran Ashwin of getting a lot of favours from pitch curators.
The comment was not taken lightly by any of the present Indian team players, who hit back at the turbanator.
“We don't decide the nature of the wickets. Neither Kohli nor Kumble rolls or waters the track. It's unfortunate that people don't understand this,” Ashwin had said. “Nobody is bothered when England wins a Test in two days. So what's the problem if the same happens in India?"
To which Harbhajan had replied,” “I think he (Ashwin) should enjoy his success. Alas, had we bowled on such wickets.“I will still stick to my point. Skill should be the deciding factor and not the conditions. Once the conditions start playing a bigger role, skill falls behind,” he said.
Even Indian Test skipper Virat Kohli wasn’t too pleased with Harbhajan’s comments and said even in surfaces assisting a spinner one has to bowl well.
"Even if it is a turning pitch, you have to bowl well. Spin is just not something to happen only off the pitch. It depends on how many revs (revolutions) you give to the ball and the use of the shoulder. When we lost to New Zealand in the World Cup, I quite clearly remember, suddenly their spinners were quality bowlers and we were found out! I don't see anyone talking about it now," he had said.
Harbhajan, with 417 wickets in 103 Tests is the leading cricketer to come out of Punjab.
Also Read: 5 great Indian cricketers who have never won the Ranji Trophy
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