India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh slammed his teammates after the opening day in the third and final Test against Sri Lanka at the Brabourne stadium, in Mumbai, on Wednesday, saying they looked tired and did not create enough pressure.
"It wasn't a day when the energy was full; I thought we looked tired. We gave a lot of runs in the third session and the energy was a bit low. We have to be up for these kinds of challenges. We could have created pressure by bowling in the right areas and fielding well. I think that would have made a difference of around 30-40 runs," Harbhajan said.
Harbhajan was instrumental in keeping Sri Lanka in check, as he claimed four wickets for 107 runs in 29 overs, after Tillakaratne Dilshan had scored a breezy 109 off 160 deliveries. But Angelo Mathews ruined India's plans with some dazzling strokeplay in the final session as he hit 86 from 119 deliveries to help Sri Lanka end the first day on a strong 366 for eight in 89 overs.
"I think we have could have bowled a little better than what we have today. We did give away few runs by trying so many things and we could have fielded a bit better," he added.
Both the seamers, Zaheer Khan (1 for 70) and S Sreesanth (1 for 66), were guilty of wasting the new ball. They failed to control the swing and went for plenty, though they came back strong with the old ball.
Harbhajan pointed out that the Indian team was hampered by the lack of an all-rounder, who could have otherwise given the frontline bowlers a break.
"It is just that you need an all-rounder who can bowl 15 overs in a day and get you 50 runs when he goes to bat. But, unfortunately, we don't have someone like that in the team. It would have been nice to have a fifth bowler in the team who could have around 15 overs and that would put less pressure on your main bowlers," he said.
The ace off-spinner refused to concede that Sri Lanka hold the edge after finishing on a high in the final session, during which they scored 153 runs in 33 overs despite losing four wickets.
"I don't want to say they will have edge or not. We want to get those two wickets as soon as possible. I got tremendous faith in our batsmenÂ… that they will come out and take this challenge and score a lot of runs on this wicket. The wicket is still good for batting and there is bounce on it; you can score a lot of runs."
Harbhajan also gave his seal of approval to the wicket at the Brabourne, hosting a Test match after 37 years, saying other venues too must also produce similar wickets.
"It is a very good track to bat, to bowl. If you see today, they [Sri Lanka] have got one hundred and one batsman is batting on ninety, and the seamers, when they have got it in the right areas, something has happened.
"Even for the spinners there is bounce. It is just the first day and this is the kind of wicket we should play Test cricket on.
"Sometimes, the kind of wickets we play on, it is difficult to even beat the batsmen on them. The Kanpur wicket was a tough wicket to bowl on and there were a lot of edges, which were not carrying to the slips and a lot of balls were going towards the third man region. It was a difficult wicket to set your field on.
"Ahmedabad, you all know the story and I don't want to keep repeating the story. I was happy with the way I bowled but it could have been a little bit better," the off-spinner added.
He believes Muttiah Muralitharan, playing in his final overseas Test, is an obvious threat on this lively wicket, but backs the Indian batsmen to come good.
"Murali is the biggest match-winner that has ever been in world cricket. Obviously, playing Murali will be challenging and it has always been challenging whether the wicket is flat or spinning. I am sure he will be looking forward to bowling on this wicket. But we have the batsmen who can handle him; they have done well against him."
