India eager to wrap up series says Harbhajan

Fit-again off-spinner Harbhajan Singh says India are eager to wrap up the series in style against Australia with a win in the fourth and final Test starting here on Thursday.

India lead 1-0 following their 320-run victory in the second Test in Mohali. With the matches in Bangalore and Delhi drawn, another draw here would be enough to clinch the four-match series.

But Harbhajan wants a win.

"We have been playing good cricket and we plan to do the same in the last Test to finish the series 2-0," Harbhajan, who missed the last Test in Delhi due to a toe injury and is just one wicket short of 300, told reporters. "I am 100 percent fit to play, but more important than my 300th wicket is to win the Test," said Harbhajan.

Anil Kumble, who quit Test cricket after the last match, is the only Indian spinner to have bagged 300 or more wickets. He ended his career as the third-highest ever wicket-taker in Tests, with 619 scalps in 132 matches. "It'll be very big shoes to fill as we all know his (Kumble's) contribution to Indian cricket and the number of matches he has won," said Harbhajan, Kumble's partner for more than a decade.

"But at the same time there are young spinners, like Amit Mishra, who have an opportunity to cement their place in the team."

Leg-spinner Mishra made an impressive seven-wicket debut against Australia in the second Test, following it up with two wickets in the next match.

The Test will be the 100th for middle-order batsman Venkatsai Laxman, but the last for former captain Sourav Ganguly, who has already announced he will quit international cricket after this series.

"I don't think there will be any distraction. We will focus on cricket and as a team we are looking forward to clinching the series here," said Harbhajan. Australia have not lost a Test series since the 2005 Ashes in England.

NAGPUR, India, Wednesday AFP