"The standard of batting has fallen against spin" - Saba Karim picks Kumble-Harbhajan ahead of Ashwin-Jadeja

Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin excelled in the first Test against Sri Lanka [P/C: BCCI]

Saba Karim has cast his vote for the spin-bowling pairing of Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh ahead of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.

Indian cricket has always been known for its spin bowling might. Ashwin and Jadeja are the latest in the assembly line of quality spinners who have represented Team India in Test cricket.

During a discussion on India News, Saba Karim was asked to choose between Kumble-Harbhajan and Ashwin-Jadeja. He responded:

"My vote will still go to the pairing of Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh. I feel that era was more challenging. In today's era, I believe the cricket is evolving but the standard of batting has fallen against spin."

The former India wicketkeeper-batter pointed out that Kumble and Harbhajan had to contend with better players of spin. Saba Karim observed:

"That era [Kumble and Harbhajan's] where the spin bowlers performed well was one where the quality of batsmanship was amazing in front of them. There were fantastic batters, who used to bat exceptionally against the spinners."

Saba Karim highlighted that almost all opposition teams had batters who were proficient against the spinners. He elaborated:

"There were a number of foreign players who batted exceedingly well against top-quality spinners. There were many players from Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Australia, West Indies players like Brian Lara and Shivnarine Chanderpaul. There were quite a few players from England as well who played the spinners well."

Spin duos with most wickets in Tests

• Muralitharan/Jayasuriya: 667 wickets in 90 Tests

• Kumble/Harbhajan: 501 wickets in 54 Tests

• Ashwin/Jadeja: 424 wickets in 42 Tests

#INDvPAK #INDvSL #Jadeja #Ashwin #Cricket https://t.co/Ivp0nrJmRJ

Kumble and Harbhajan scalped 501 wickets in the 54 Test matches they played in tandem. Team India won 21 of these encounters and drew as many, with 12 matches ending in defeat.

"India's domination kept on increasing because of Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh" - Saba Karim

Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble formed a potent spin-bowling pair

Saba Karim added that Kumble and Harbhajan were responsible for the growing might of Indian cricket during a period of transition. He explained:

"In that era, the Indian team was growing. India's attempt was to win matches in home conditions as well as in alien conditions, especially in SENA countries and it was an era where India's domination kept on increasing because of Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh only."

It still blows my mind that Harbhajan Singh took 32 wickets in that 2001 Test series vs Australia and the next best wicket-taker from the Indian team in the entire series had 3 wickets.

I mean, what a stat to have!

Karim concluded by pointing out that Harbhajan's exploits that helped Sourav Ganguly's Indian side beat a supposedly unbeatable Australia can never be forgotten.