Harbhajan Singh – In a spin!

A few years back, during a test match for India against South Africa, the commentators, while referring to the bowling of Harbhajan Singh had clearly pinpointed that taking a couple of wickets here and there, now and then, will not serve the purpose, as being the senior and lead spinner, he should contribute a lot more to keep his place in the team intact. That was about time when a section of the press had already started raising voice against the under-performance of Harbhajan Singh.

Even during the T20 World Cup 2007, when Harbhajan Singh did not fulfill his role, there was a general opinion that he has reached a point of stagnation and his career seemed to be over. But then, there was no suitable replacement, so Harbhajan Singh remained there. Compared to the number of chances given, the outcome, by and large was never treated as outstanding, despite him taking five or more wickets on many occasions. There are many who do not hesitate to mention that various of the wickets taken by him are of the tail-enders. There was a kind of hype created about the so called different mode of bowling termed as doosra, (stated to be originally developed by Saqlain Mushtaq) but that too did not prove to be an effective tool.

Controversies – this word became synonymous with Harbhajan Singh and many of them drew the attention of the whole world. His encounter with Andrew Symonds proved to be the biggest one, when Symonds (the well known all-rounder of Australia) alleged that Harbhajan Singh abused him racially, though he could not prove it but it certainly defamed Harbhajan Singh. Most of the fans of the game termed that as a big blot to the otherwise neat and clean image of Indian team.

Another big mistake committed by Harbhajan Singh was when he slapped Sreesanth openly, a few seasons back in the IPL.  Although Harbhajan might have regretted later, but by then his image was already shattered and many people demanded his ouster as this incident tantamounts to a gross arrogance and not worth forgiving. But somehow a compromise was reached between both parties and the matter stalled.

Harbhajan Singh is already 33 and off-late he has not been able to give any magical performance despite being in the team for about 13 years and with unparalleled experience.  Many of his supporters give this argument that he is contributing a lot through his bating as well, but here comes the true picture, his batting average in ODIs is13.22, Tests 18.35, T20 14.29 and in IPL 16.55.

His Test and ODI records state that his bowling averages are well above 32; while the best bowlers in the world average around 22. He has certainly not lived up to the hype that was created when he first came. Also, most of his wickets have come on spin friendly Indian pitches.

Despite being so senior, he has not understood that its time for him to step aside, and perhaps give more chances to youngsters. Still, Harbhajan Singh will be remembered for always being in the headlines. Wish him good luck.