Harbhajan hits out Hard at Buchanan

Star off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has hit back at John Buchanan for taking a dig at Indian greats like Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar in his autobiography.

The former Australian coach has said in his latest book 'The Future of Cricket: The Rise of Twenty20' that likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid were not suited for the shortest format of the game.

"You have to be inventive and fearless. And I don't see those qualities as part of Sachin's make-up at this stage of his career. Sachin Tendulkar is still a great player but not in this arena of T20," Buchanan said in the book published by Orient Paperbacks.

Buchanan also said that Harbhajan often dishes out treatment but then finds an appropriate means to camouflage his action.

Harbhajan wrote in his blog: "I am not surprised at this. In fact anything coming out of Australia does not surprise me anymore. It just shows how much they love me and keep thinking about me."

"Anyway, whatever is happening in Australia just shows how much love and respect they have for us. This is not the first time an Australian has showered his praise on me and 1 am pretty certain he won't be the last one either," he further added.

While Bhajji was at his wittiest best in reply to Buchanan's comment on him, he criticized the former Australian for making offensive comments against Indian legends.

"What offends me are the well crafted and framed comments on proven legends like Mr Gavaskar and Sachin by someone whose coaching credentials were doubted by the most respected Aussie leg spinner (Shane Warne). The coaching credentials were tested waters again at an IPL team this year," the offie, who has played 77 Tests & 189 ODIs for India, said.

"There used to be a time when action used to speak louder than words but now its vice-versa. Words draw more attention that action. At times I wonder why all these things appear just before the launch of the book," he added.