Sports India

Harbhajan Singh envisages a challenging role for traditional spinners in Twenty-20 format, saying the slam-bang version of the game will be the ultimate test of their bowling skills.

While describing the format as exciting, the off-spinner said it would be nothing short of nightmare for bowlers like him as it is tailor-made for strokemakers.

“It is a very exciting format (but) more for viewers and batsmen. Bowlers will always be under pressure in this format of the game,” he told newspersons here today.

“It will be great fun for batsmen like Dhoni and Sehwag. But it will be just ‘katle aam’ (massacre) for bowlers,” the 26-year-old said.

“I had a chance to play in Twenty-20 cricket (in England) which attracted a lot of viewers and they really enjoyed the short game. But my experience is that bowlers will have to keep their fingers crossed before every ball.”

After initially opposing the concept, the Indian Cricket Board recently decided to introduce the latest version in the domestic circuit and also confirmed their participation in Twenty-20 World Cup to be held in South Africa next year.

Harbhajan said the format made it necessary for the bowlers to score runs down the order so as to make some contribution to the total.

“Even from the tailenders, some hard hitting would be expected. In a nutshell, for bowlers it will be a great challenge and for batsmen it will be great fun,” he added. (Agencies)