Jalandhar, Mar 7 All the controversies and bitterness generated during the tour of Australia should be buried now that the series is over and India had emerged victorious, according to Harbhajan Singh who played a key role in the historic triumph.

Harbhajan, who was at the centre of most of the controversies during the ill-tempered tour, said the team's performance in Australia has proved that India could become a a major force in world cricket.

"The bitterness memories should be buried. It is all over with our win. We must concentrate on playing cricket and it should be played in good spirit," he told a press conference here today.

"They (Australians) tried to upset our players but were not ready to tolerate anything. We were brave enough to give them a befitting reply through cricket only," the off-spinner, who was involved in a racism row with Andrew Symonds, said.

"It was Australians, who initiated making comments. Some of the comments were so bad that I cannot share it with you. We were there to play cricket only," he said.

Elated by the Indian team's performance Down Under, Harbhajan said he had no doubt that India would soon become a dominating force in forms of cricket.

"Of course if we play like this, we will be number one team in Test as well as one-dayers. We can beat any team with such a strong side. We look forward to play good cricket in the season," he said. (Agencies)