Harbhajan ready to bat at any position

Mumbai, April 13 (IANS) After smashing 64 off just 24 balls against Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Sunday, Mumbai Indians cricketer Harbhajan Singh said he is ready to bat at any position his team needs him to.

Besides his cameo with the bat, the off-spinner earlier finished with impressive bowling figures of 4-0-20-2. But his big hitting later on went in vain as the home team fell short by 18 runs at the Wankhede Stadium here.

"If the team needs me to bat up the order or at any position, I am there for them. I will go out there and hit a few balls out of the park. Whenever the team requires, I will surely play according to the situation," Harbhajan said.

The spinner praised teammate Jagadeesha Suchith for an all-round performance in his first game for Mumbai Indians.

"Suchith is a good prospect for us. He is one of those guys whom not many people have seen. He played against us in the Punjab vs Karnataka Vijay Hazare Trophy final in January 2014. I straight away told Rahul Dravid that this guy is a good spinner and we know he can bat as well," he said.

"He came over and started hitting the ball very well. He is a brilliant player. You will see a lot more of him. His figures show he didn't bowl well, but actually he bowled well. He didn't bowl any loose ball."

The seasoned campaigner is happy to have made a strong comeback with the ball after a lacklustre performance against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the tournament opener on Wednesday. Against KKR, he finished with figures of 4-0-38-1.

On Sunday night, the 34-year-old put the brakes on the Kings XI batting by getting the wicket of explosive batsman Virender Sehwag (36), who was smashing the ball to all parts of the ground.

"I am quite happy the way I bowled. The match against KKR in Kolkata was not that great for me. I didn't bowl as well as i should have. I am happy I have comeback strongly. This will boost my confidence to go forward in the competition," Harbhajan said.