Harbhajan links players' IPL stint to India success

The experience of playing in the Indian Premier League (IPL) will give his country a strong chance to win the World Twenty20, according to Harbhajan Singh.

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The experience of playing in the Indian Premier League (IPL) will give his country a strong chance to win the World Twenty20, according to Harbhajan Singh. The India off-spinner is in good form having finished the tournament with 17 dismissals. And he told The Times of India yesterday that: "Most Indian players have been playing in the IPL and that experience will come in handy. Some top players like Suresh Raina, Murali Vijay, MS Dhoni, Zaheer Khan and myself have even played the final.

"Then there are others like Yusuf Pathan, Rohit Sharma, Dinesh Karthik, Piyush Chawla, Ashish Nehra, all of whom have done well for their respective teams." He added: "The conditions in the West Indies would be more or less similar to what it is in India. The wickets will be on the slower side. We have a great team and if we play well, we can win the World Cup." He also praised Dhoni's leadership, saying: "Dhoni is an ice-cool person. He never shows his emotions on the ground, never gets upset with the players.

"To me, he is the best captain in the world. He is a fine mix of brain and brawn and he always backs his instincts." Meanwhile, Ramnaresh Sarwan has backed he and his West Indies teammates to bring delight to the home fans when the World Twenty20 begins today. The host nation begin their campaign tonight against Ireland, and have good pedigree at Twenty20 cricket having reached the semi-finals of last year's tournament in England.

Sarwan said: "We have a very good chance of winning this competition. We are at home and that gives us an advantage." "What is important is that we play as a team and try and support each other as much as we can, whether it's in the field or when we are batting or bowling," the batsman added. * Agencies West Indies v Ireland, 1am on CricOne and ESPN Star Sports