It's tough to bowl to unknown batsmen: Harbhajan

Mumbai Indians off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has said that the toughest challenge for him is to bowl to an unknown batsmen in Twenty20 cricket as not many are aware about their nature of play.

"It is the toughest to bowl against batsmen who you do not have an idea about. You do not know their style of play and what kind of strokes they play to score their runs, hence it is challenging," Harbhajan said.

Harbhajan Singh. Pic/ Atul Kamble

"Whatever videos I get to see of such batsmen, I try to analyse that part of it and bowl my best balls to them when I face them," he said.

Even though Rajasthan Royals scored a formidable 179 for three against Mumbai last night, Harbhajan bowled an economical spell, giving away just 26 runs from his four overs and picked up a wicket.

"I try to keep things as simple as possible. I take the game one step at a time. I always feel I have to bowl according to the situation of the team. I back myself whether I am bowling up front or bowling in the middle of the innings or bowling at the death," the off-spinner told iplt20.com after the match.

Harbhajan said he backs himself to pick wickets on batting friendly pitches despite going for runs. "Bowling in T20s has always been a challenge. Since we are playing in India, it is even more difficult where the pitches are batting friendly and the boundaries are quite small. I believe at the end of the day, you got to believe in yourself and give it your best shot under such circumstances," he said.

"You have to keep believing in yourself as a bowler that even if you go for runs, you can pick up wickets. You have to back yourself and bowl accordingly," he added.