MELBOURNE: Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has admitted the controversies he was embroiled in on the Australian tour were very difficult to cope with, but claimed the experience had only made him tougher as a cricketer and as a man.

Harbhajan was accused of racially abusing Andrew Symonds, a charge which was later dropped, the local media called him the most hated player in the world and the fans accused him of making monkey gestures to them, but Harbhajan would take it as the price a fighter had to pay.

"Whatever I have coped with in the last three months, it has been a very hard time for me. It was a big learning experience for me, not just as a cricketer but as a man. I have always known myself. I am a fighter," Harbhajan was quoted as saying in the 'Sydney Morning Herald.'

"The Australians boo me and say things at times but it didn't really bother me -- the more they will do it, the more I will keep on performing," he said. He defended his on-field conduct which the Australian cricketers and media took as abrasive.

"I don't really feel the pressure. I just take it the way things come and I try to stay very cool. I am not here to make friends, and I can't play soft," he said. Harbhajan also admitted the controversies surrounding him during the tour had taken a toll on his family. "It has been harder for them than for me, actually.

I am proud to be Indian. I would like to thank all of my Indian fans and all of my supporters in Australia who have stood beside me in this rough time over the last three months." Harbhajan also took Aussie opener Matthew Hayden to task for his "obnoxious little weed" comment made on radio.

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