Sachin taught me key weapon: Bhajji

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Roseau, July 9: Indian off-break Harbhajan Singh may have turned a master in his own right with completing a career haul of 400 wickets in Test cricket. But he is quick to point out that master-blaster Sachin Tendulkar is the secret to his success. Indeed, Bhajji attributes his employment of a key weapon in his armoury to Sachin alone. This mysterious "slider" ball apparently completes Bhajji's gamut of tricks.

"He showed me how to use the slider," declared Harbhajan. "It can be very useful in One-day and Test cricket and I have got a couple of wickets with that ball. You hold that ball like an off-spinner but you release the ball with one finger, so it just goes like an out-swinger. But it can happen only with the new ball."

Harbhajan added that the Sachin has always been ready and willing to impart effective advice to him, when it came to training his guns on those batsman who play spin well.

"Whenever I bowl to Sachin at the nets, I always ask him what is happening and what I should be looking to do on wickets like these, and wherever we are touring, whether it is in Australia or New Zealand, I ask him and take his advice."

Harbhajan continued to pay tribute to the Little Master, saying that it was with his backing and generous consultation that he has been able to grab the scalps of class batsman like Mathew Hayden, Brian Lara and Mark Waugh.

However, the one foreign batsman that he regards the finest he has ever bowled to is former Australian captain Ricky Ponting. This proclamation comes despite the fact that he had relegated the List A batter to the status of a bunny when he bowled to him in the home series in 2001.