IPL 2018: Mayank Markande eager to emulate Harbhajan Singh

Mumbai Indians (MI) have slumped to two consecutive defeats against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and are currently languishing at the bottom half of the table. The fact that they missed out after dominating for a chunk of the games, would hurt them even more. However, there was a silver lining in the dark clouds of their dismal start.

Mayank Markande, prior to the tournament, played four T20s and had no first-class experience. Nevertheless, he was drafted into the playing eleven by Rohit Sharma and he didn’t let his captain down. He is currently the Purple Cap-holder having already racked up seven wickets in a couple of games. During yesterday’s game against Kane Williamson’s men, Markande played an integral role with his leg-breaks.

“Supported me a lot”- Mayank Markande

Being from Punjab, the tweaker had an opportunity of rubbing shoulders with legendary figures like Harbhajan Singh. In a recent interview with MI Channel, the Bathinda-born skipper heaped praise on the Indian off-spinner for helping him while playing the One Day format for his state and instilling a positive mindset for upcoming challenges.

“This was the first year that I had the opportunity of meeting Harbhajan Singh. He supported me a lot when I was playing List A games for Punjab. He helped me remain in a positive frame of mind throughout and would often speak to me about bowling plans” Markande mentioned.

The leg-break bowler also hailed Bhajji’s resourceful bag of tricks and pledged to learn the art and tricks in order to be successful in the long run “He has immense knowledge about the game and I have managed to pick a few things from him. He is a legend of the game and I would want to meet him more often and pick his brains” he added.

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