We are confident of winning: Harbhajan

Indian off spinner Harbhajan Singh on Tuesday said the home team was confident of chasing the target set by England to win the third and final Test, not withstanding the past record or the form of the batsmen.

The bowler was drawing confidence from the wicket, which he said was still good for batting and hoping India would not lose many wickets in the pre-lunch session.

"The wicket is still good and nothing much is happening. The first hour tomorrow would be crucial and if we don't lose any wickets in the first hour we have a very good chance of winning," he said after the end of the fourth day's play.

"We need to be patient in the beginning, not lose many wickets as we have the batsmen to chase the target later. I am confident, Team India is confident," he said.

India, set a target of 313 to win by England, were 18 for one in 8 overs at stumps, still needing 295 runs to win on the final day.

The highest winning total ever achieved at this ground by any team is 164 for six by South Africa against India in the 1999-2000 season while 276 is the highest-ever fourth innings total made for a winning cause on any ground in India in Tests, the distinction achieved by the West Indies in 1987 at Delhi.

Asked about the quality of bowling by Shaun Udal and Monty Panesar, on whom England would be banking on in the spin department tomorrow, Harbhajan said both were good bowlers.

"They are good bowlers and it's a good wicket. If they are good enough then they can take wickets and if our batsmen play well, we can win the match."

Harbhajan, who picked two wickets after not being called upon to bowl at all in the first session, said he was happy with his bowling though the results have not shown so far.

"The numbers don't show it but I am happy with the way I have bowled in the series," said the Punjab bowler, who has over 200 Test wickets under his belt.

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Harbhajan insisted that his wicket-less show in the first two Tests in Pakistan in January-February had come on wickets that were totally flat in nature and on which even great spinners like Muttiah Muralitharan and Shane Warne would have had struggled.

"I had not come across such flat tracks in my life before. I am not disappointed at failing to take a wicket in the two Tests I played there. Even great bowlers like Murali and Warne would have struggled on those wickets," he said.

"A total of over 2900 runs were scored on those two wickets (Lahore and Faisalabad). But I know I have to learn to bowl better on those wickets. But I am not disappointed and I have forgotten about it and am concentrating on taking wickets in future," he said.

Asked about the state of play over the last two days of the current Test, Harbhajan said, "Yesterday they had a very good day, but our tail-enders scored 80-90 runs."