Mumbai, Nov 23: During the Mumbai Test against England, Harbhajan Singh is set to reap the fruits of the hard work he has put in over the last 16 months. Since playing his last Test, in Nottingham, in July 2011, Harbhajan has endured injury, loss of form and a struggle to get back into Team India. And he has overcome all odds to achieve his goal. The Turbanator is back in India whites, for the 99th time.

It is a beautiful coincidence that the Test that marks Harbhajan’s return also happens to be a very special milestone for one of his close mates. It is the 100th Test match for Virender Sehwag, with whom Harbhajan has been playing cricket since they both were wide-eyed 15-year-olds with dreams and the determination to make it big in life.

The off-spinner, who is three years senior to Sehwag as a Test cricketer, is more than happy to be beaten in the race of getting to a century of Test appearances. After the first day of the Mumbai Test, in a chat with bcci.tv, Harbhajan spoke fondly about Sehwag and hoped to get to his own 100-Test mark in this series.

How does it feel to stand on the threshold of playing 100 Test matches for India?

Playing 100 Test matches needs a lot of hard work and determination. It doesn’t come easy. As a kid, the only thing I wanted to do was perform for India whenever I get the opportunity. That hasn’t changed. These milestones will come if you keep putting in the hard yards. I’m very happy to be back in the side. I’ve worked really hard in the last year and it was a tough year for me. I’m keeping my fingers crossed hoping that slowly but surely things will fall back into place for me.

Have you set any goals for yourself as a Test cricketer?

In the last year and a half my goal was to get back into the Test team and complete my 100 Test matches. It’s a big thing for any cricketer. Now that goal is very close and I cannot wait to get there. I want to get over with it and then set fresh goals for myself from there on. I want to settle down in the team again and then play for India for another five-six years.

Virender Sehwag is currently experiencing the feeling that you’re eagerly awaiting yourself. A few words on his 100 Tests.

I’ve been playing cricket with him since our Under-16 days. He’s very upfront with his words and is very clear about what he wants to do. He’s been a terrific cricketer for India. He’s very positive and the way he approaches the game is amazing. I’m really happy and pleased to see that a guy from my batch has gone on to play 100 Test matches. Right from our junior days, we all believed that Viru is one guy from this batch who can go on to play 100 Tests for India.

Despite making a Test debut three years after you, he has got to the 100-match mark first

We were talking about it yesterday and he told me, ‘You could’ve played your 100th Test last year itself if you didn’t get injured and then dropped’. It was probably written in destiny that he would get there before me. I’m happy for him and now I will be the next to get there, hopefully in Kolkata (the third Test of the series).

This is not a bad Test to make a comeback. Are your fingers itching to bowl on this track after seeing Monty Panesar get four wickets on the first day?

In the second session the ball was doing quite a bit in terms of spin and bounce. There was more bounce than spin. Any spinner would love to bowl on this track. It was nice to see the ball jumping. Hopefully, when we bowl, the used wicket will offer more bounce and turn and things will get even better for the spinners.

This is the first time in 10 years that India have gone into a Test match with two off-spinners. Looking forward to play your first Test with Ashwin?

I see no problems in playing two off-spinners. Very often teams play three seamers and all of them are out-swing bowlers. But their pace, the trajectory of the ball and the zip they get off the pitch is all different. Similarly, two off-spinners can be very successful bowling in tandem. It’s nice to see Ashwin doing well and me coming back into the side. I hope we bowl well together and win a lot of games for India.