18 April 2024 last updated at 15:13 GMT
 
Not many gave us a chance: Harbhajan
Monday 10 October 2011

Mumbai Indians’ stand-in skipper Harbhajan Singh said it was a great achievement to win CLT20 2011 without the influence of Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar.

"Not many people gave us a chance at the start of the tournament. If we can achieve so much without having players like Sachin Tendulkar, Rohit Sharma and Munaf Patel, just think about what we can do if we have them," an elated Harbhajan said.

He believed that it was a matter of getting the top three - Tillekaratne Dilshan, Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli - in the final against Royal Challengers Bangalore.

"We knew that if we could get Gayle, Virat and Dilshan, we will be right in the game. Shaun Pollock told us during the interval that if we try, we could defend any total. We wanted to give our best shot. The body language of the boys was great and by the grace of God we got the desired result."

He was also all praise for man-of-the-tournament Lasith Malinga for his all-round show.

"His record shows what a phenomenal cricketer he has been. It's great pleasure to have a guy who can win matches for you. Another of our bowling hero has been Abu Nechim Ahmed."

Meanwhile RCB skipper Daniel Vettori was disappointed as he felt that 140 was a "gettable target."

"We were aware that the wicket will be vastly different from the one we played on at the Chinnaswamy (in Bangalore). It was on the slower side. On two occasions now, we have got stuck on this track."

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