Sachin always told me to get a Test century: Harbhajan
Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh attributed his maiden Test century against New Zealand in the first match to the constant motivation given by senior batsman Sachin Tendulkar.
The 30-year-old Harbhajan said he never dreamt of scoring a Test hundred but Tendulkar always had faith in him and asked him to get a century.
"I never dreamed that I would receive a man of the match award as a batsman and definitely not in Test cricket! I am really happy that my century helped us to draw the game, which is all that mattered," Harbhajan told this week's ICC Cricket World audio show.
"VVS Laxman gave me some good advice telling me not to play on the rise as the wicket was very slow, which was great advice as it meant I went on to score my century.''
"Sachin Tendulkar is a great motivator for all of us whether he is out in the field or in the dressing room. He always told me I should be going out and scoring a Test century so I wanted to show him that my maiden Test century was for him," said Harbhajan, who had signal to Tendulkar in the dressing room when he scored his century.
Harbhajan scored 69 and 115 to guide India to a draw against the Black Caps in the first Test of the three-match series.
The 30-year-old Harbhajan said he never dreamt of scoring a Test hundred but Tendulkar always had faith in him and asked him to get a century.
"I never dreamed that I would receive a man of the match award as a batsman and definitely not in Test cricket! I am really happy that my century helped us to draw the game, which is all that mattered," Harbhajan told this week's ICC Cricket World audio show.
"VVS Laxman gave me some good advice telling me not to play on the rise as the wicket was very slow, which was great advice as it meant I went on to score my century.''
"Sachin Tendulkar is a great motivator for all of us whether he is out in the field or in the dressing room. He always told me I should be going out and scoring a Test century so I wanted to show him that my maiden Test century was for him," said Harbhajan, who had signal to Tendulkar in the dressing room when he scored his century.
Harbhajan scored 69 and 115 to guide India to a draw against the Black Caps in the first Test of the three-match series.