Harbhajan Singh opens up about feeling Indo-Pak like tension before every CSK-MI match

Harbhajan Singh has been India's premier spinner for the major part of the last two decades. The off-spinner is an animated character on the field, who never shies away from taking up a fight with his opponents whenever needed. He seems to be a candid personality off the field as well, who is extremely expressive about what he feels.

ALSO READ | Rohit Sharma reveals personal reason that made IPL 2019 win 'most special' for him

Harbhajan Singh speaks on CSK-MI rivalry 

Harbhajan Singh was a part of the Mumbai Indians setup from 2008-17. However, since the last two seasons, he has been a part of the Chennai Super Kings (CSK). Recently, Harbhajan Singh spoke on donning the CSK jersey for the first time. He also spoke in length about CSK's rivalry with Mumbai Indians (MI).

ALSO READ | IPL: Rohit Sharma delights fans with interesting Instagram live chat ft. Mohammad Shami

While speaking to sports producer Rupha Ramani during an Instagram live session for Chennai Super Kings, Harbhajan Singh said that the first time he wore the CSK jersey, it felt very strange. He added that he couldn't process it and it felt like a dream. Harbhajan Singh further said that whenever Mumbai Indians played against CSK, it was like an India-Pakistan match because the tension and atmosphere created by fans and the media is huge around the game besides the fact that two of the best IPL teams faced off against each other.

Harbhajan Singh went on to say that suddenly wearing yellow and not blue was difficult to get used to initially in 2018. Harbhajan Singh added that luckily, his first game for CSK was against the Mumbai Indians. He further said that he was relieved that the contest between the arch-rivals was over early. He also said that throughout the first season, it was difficult but the second season was better.

Harbhajan Singh went on to lift the trophy with CSK in 2018 and ended up losing to his former team Mumbai Indians in the IPL 2019 final.

ALSO READ | IPL: Gautam Gambhir says Rohit Sharma is a better ODI batsman than Kohli, justifies his reason

Harbhajan Singh says MS Dhoni was a very shy guy initially who preferred to be on his own

In the same conversation, Harbhajan Singh said that MS Dhoni didn't talk much or hang out with the rest of his teammates on overseas tours. The spinner claimed that Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra and himself used to spend time together during overseas tours as they played a lot of cricket with each other. The veteran spinner added that after the 2008 series happened, the Test match in Sydney got everyone together in the Indian team. Harbhajan Singh believed that from that time onwards, MS Dhoni started opening up a bit and sitting with them. 

ALSO READ | Rohit Sharma picks toughest Indian bowler to face in the nets and its NOT Jasprit Bumrah

IMAGE COURTESY: HARBHAJAN SINGH INSTAGRAM