That series Bhajji played magical cricket. Since then he has hardly won a match or two. If we take out that performance, its not difficult to see how ordinary a player Bhajji is. If at all bhajji matures, he should announce retirement. Otherwise we know that he has not matured.
The article says "The 27-year-old Jalandhar native is India's most successful off-spinner, having taken 238 wickets in 57 Tests and 174 wickets in 151 one-day games."
In the famed days of the legendary spin quartet, three spinners used to be fixtures in the team with Venkat and Prasanna fighting out for the fourth slot (more often poor Venkat). Pras and Chandra (as they were lovingly called by fans those days) used to bamboozle the top order of the world's top flight batsmen from England, Australia and West Indies, while Bedi gleefully picked up tailenders!
In the late 70's through early 90's, importance of spinners was downplayed with the arrival of a pack of promising and good pacers led by the legendary Kapil Dev and so we had run of the mill spinners like Dilip Doshi, Shivlal Yadav, Arshad Ayub, Ravi Shastri, V Raju, Maninder Singh etc.
Then came the colassus called Kumble (Jumbo) who to date is the real most successful bowler of India. I don't want to explain. Go to cricinfo.com and analyse the number of wickets taken divided by number of tests played by any leading bowler - Kapil, Kumble, Bedi, Srinath, Chandra ... you will agree.
Well, wait, I am only saying that Kumble is the only real SUCCESSFUL bowler. I am not saying that he is the best.
In my own assessment, Harbhajan is the best spinner ever to have played for India. Reasons: Aggression, Killer instinct, will to succeed. Bonus: Better fielder than any other Indian spinner (barring Venkat)
Hei Harbhajan u played politics and now u have mbitions of takiing over the strike bowler mantle from Anil Kumble. Anil Kumble is the unsung hero of Indian Cricket. He's a fighter and he always play for the team. Everytime he steps on to the filed he gives 100% and doesn't care about who is the captain or who is the coach. He has always played for the betterment of the team. He is a perfect role model for the other members and youngsters. The same cannot be said about Harbhajan Singh. Mr.HArbhajan, U look urself in the mirror and honestly find out whether u're a perfect team man. Introspect and then think of playing again for India.
Piyush Chawla can replace Anil Kumble in Team India. He's got the skills,talent and variety to lead our attack in the future. So, our Spin combination or options for the future are clearly Piyush Chawla, Ramesh Powar,Rajesh Powar,the promising spinner from Tamilnadu (I forgot his name). I don't think Harbhajan can make it to the squad in the near future. But in Indian Cricket anything could happen.
RE:Harbhajan its not possible
by Debasish Bandyopadhyay on Jul 31, 2007 03:53 PM Permalink
But in Indian Cricket anything could happen. The last sentence is the only truth. That's why Bhajji is out of Indian team at present. This is due to politics. He is an honest team man not like few others who are yes man. With regards to Kumble, Harbhajan is the best spinner of present Indian team and most probably for the future.
it is a well known fact for so many decades that english do not play spin well. so no surprise at all that u r getting wickets. warne, murali and kumble (if i can add) take wickets all over the world and not just india. any opposition always do lot of discussion about how to play these guys. if u want to be in kumble's shoes, try and pray. good luck to u.
Nick Bethe Kelasa Ijjambe, Aye Bewarsi Gangulyna Chamche. Ayeda Dala Dam Ijji. Nick bareyara ithinda Uttappa, Rohit Sharma, Piyush Chawla, Irfan Pathan mugalna mitha dala andala barela. Und enna request.
