“We lost the World Test Championship finals because we aren’t used to playing on such wickets” – Harbhajan Singh backs India to play on good pitches after 2nd Test win over England
Harbhajan Singh credited India for beating England by 106 runs in the second Test on a track that assisted both batters and bowlers in Vizag. With the win, India leveled the five-match Test series 1-1.
The former India cricketer wants the hosts to continue playing on such pitches to improve themselves in the long run. Harbhajan pointed out that India lost the first two World Test Championship (WTC) finals against New Zealand and Australia due to the habit of playing on spin-friendly tracks at home.
Harbhajan said on his YouTube channel:
“The biggest positive is India winning the game on a good wicket. That’s how you build a team. There’s no fun in winning on bad wickets. We failed to win the World Test Championship finals because we aren’t used to playing on such [good] wickets.
The cricketer-turned-commentator continued:
"I hope that the mindset of Team India will change from here on. They go forward with positive intent and will make it a habit of winning on good wickets [pitches].”
The 43-year-old added that the hosts would have won the opening against the visitors if they had played a good pitch. The comments come a week after India lost by 28 runs in Hyderabad. He said:
“It was a waste playing the opening game on a turner. If India had played on a better wicket, they would’ve beaten England. They went in a direction that didn’t suit them. They played on a turner, and England ended up beating India.”
“Exceptional bowling” – Harbhajan Singh lauds Jasprit Bumrah and Ravichandran Ashwin's bowling performances against England
Harbhajan Singh further lauded Jasprit Bumrah and Ravichandran, the chief architect of India’s win with the ball. The praise came as Bumrah bagged nine wickets, including a six-wicket haul during England’s first innings and Ashwin took the prized wickets of Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, and Joe Root in the fourth innings.
The legendary off-spinner said:
“It was great to see the bowlers. They made a good effort. We have to praise Jasprit Bumrah, six wickets in the first innings and three in the second innings. Exceptional bowling.
He continued:
"We have to also give credit to Ravichandran Ashwin, he bowled well and stuck to his areas. Hopefully, India will continue to deliver similar performances in Rajkot.”
In the match, Bumrah became the fastest Indian to reach 150 Test wickets, while Ashwin ended up becoming India’s highest wicket-taker against England (97 scalps) in the format. The off-spinner needs one more scalp to get 500 wickets in Tests.
The two teams will next lock horns in the third Test in Rajkot, starting February 15.