Harbhajan will bolster our spin department: Eoin Morgan

Kolkata, Mar 31 (PTI): Veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh’s inclusion may have raised quite a few eyebrows but Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Eoin Morgan on Wednesday said it has boosted their spin force keeping in mind of Chennai’s slow turners in the upcoming IPL.
The 40-year-old, who skipped the IPL in Dubai last year, was bought by the two-time IPL champions at his base price of Rs 2 crore after he had gone unsold in the first round.
He will join the likes of Sunil Narine, Shakib-al-Hasan, Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakravarthy in KKR’s spin department.
“Adding Harbhajan to our squad has strengthened us in a really good way. When you look at our spin department as a whole, on paper, it’s one of the best in the tournament and that’s factual,” the KKR skipper said in a virtual media conference.
Owing to the pandemic, IPL 2021 will be held across six venues from April 9-May 30 with no team getting to play at home.
The tournament will kick-start in Chennai where 10 matches will be held.
“If you look at the options that we have and the conditions that we might play in probably particularly in Chennai, which notoriously can turn or at least raise the eyebrows of our spinners which is hard to do.
“It’s an area that if we play well in the tournament I think our spinners will have bowled well and contributed in that regard,” the World Cup winning English skipper said.
Morgan, who was appointed skipper midway into their dwindling campaign last season, said this time the squad is well-rounded and the biggest strength would be their middle-order.
“The one positive, amongst others last year was the versatility within our middle order and the flexibility to either promote Sunil or promote myself or DK.