He's the first Indian to take a Test match hat trick, the second youngest ever. He has made sure that the Australian team's nightmares are made of him. He's got the spin, the attitude... and the wickets!

The Scene: The Second Test between Australia and India, Kolkata.

The Time: The 16th over of first innings.

The Crime: Ask Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist and Shane Warne.

At 20, Harbhajan Singh has experienced what a regular cricketer would take an entire career and retiring to experience. He came on the cricketing scene at 18 amidst much hype and surprise. He performed well and so his bowling action immediately came under suspicion. Nothing unusual there, nowadays we're sure they teach you in coaching academies that if you do well at the very beginning of your career, hindrances will appear in your path to success. It probably puzzles the BCCI or the ICC (whichever maybe the troublemaker) so much to find immense young talent that they think something must be wrong. The trick to deal with these hindrances is to persist.

And Harbhajan is persistence itself. Wherever you go, whatever you read, the first word associated with Bhajji is 'fighter'. At an age when most inspiring cricketers are just getting inspired by other cricketers, he has seen the joy of being selected, the terror of his action being suspected, the pain and stress of having it corrected before he had barely bowled an over and the ecstasy of setting a world record. He sure has the right attitude. And he must be doing a lot right!

Bhajji is an attacking spinner in the classical mould. He's the latest addition to the list of off-spinners who have been doing so well all around the cricketing world. Armed with a huge amount of confidence (after his breathtaking performance against the 'invincible' Australians), the backing of his team and his captain, the blessings of the entire nation, and the will to succeed, Harbhajan Singh is on his way to Making It Happen.

Off-spinners seem to be ruling the cricketing world...

Yes, all off-spinners are doing very, very well for themselves. Saqlain, Muralitharan... I am also trying to get there, I am trying to do well, so that my name can also be taken in the same league.

You worked quite a lot at the nets before this series... what part of your bowling did you work on?

I just worked on the line and length, that's all I focused on. And I practised a lot.

Did you change your bowling action as well?

No, there's no significant change in my bowling action. I went to England at the beginning of my career and I was told to change my action a little, that's all. I have been working on doing that for the past year-and-a-half. And that's all I did, I didn't change my action this time around. After working on my action for so long now, I have the confidence to perform.

Players from Punjab are doing quite well...

Punjab has been doing well consistently at the Ranji Trophy, so guys from Punjab are doing well, as a result. There's a lot of talent and all the cricketers are very hardworking.

Critics say that all the Indian spinners that have come till now have been one-series wonders, like Narendra Hirwani...

This kind of talk keeps happening no matter how you perform. I don't pay attention to these things, I just like to concentrate on my career and what I want to achieve, for myself and for the Indian cricket team. How I have to practise and what match I have to play-that's all I have on my mind right now. I know my limitations, what I can and cannot do, and I will try and do as well as I can within those.

You were not picked for a long time before the Australia series. Were you scared of losing out before you started?

Yeh sab to hota hi rehta hai... Sometimes you get picked, sometimes you don't. It's a good thing, in a way, that you have competition, you have reason and motivation to do well and to keep performing. If you don't have competition, you might not do so well consistently.

Would you say that the absence of Anil Kumble in this series was actually a blessing in disguise for you?

Yes. I felt more responsible. Also, I got to bowl more overs and a chance to show what I could do. The captain showed a lot of faith in me, so did the entire team. Overall, yes, it was a positive for me. And I am very thankful to God for giving me this opportunity.

Do you feel that it's easier to perform well on an Indian pitch than abroad?

It's nothing like that. You have to see the situation of the match. It's not necessary that Indian pitches turn all the time. Similarly, pitches abroad can be real turners sometimes. If we can adapt to the foreign conditions early and well, we can perform well anywhere.

Which is your most effective ball?

Regular off-spin.