Out of favour spinner, Harbhajan Singh felt that captain Virat Kohli and chief coach Anil Kumble have got a chance to usher in a new ear where Indian cricket team will not require “rank turners” to win matches as the long-used tactic is beginning to boomerang on the side.
“Honestly, I have no idea how my statement is going to be presented by the media. However, one thing which I can say is that we have no time to read all these comments. We don’t decide the nature of the wickets. Neither Kohli nor Kumble rolls or waters the track. It’s unfortunate that people don’t understand this. We should be allowed to enjoy our brand of cricket. Nobody is bothered when England wins a Test in two days. So what’s the problem if the same happens in India?”, says Ashwin and was quoted by Ananda Bazar Patrika.
But Harbhajan Singh said, “I think he (Ashwin) should enjoy his success. Alas, had we bowled on such wickets… I will still stick to my point,” replied when asked about Ashwin’s statement.
When asked about his playing days in the team, Singh replied, “What we used to get, can be termed as ‘little favour’ and what happens now is ‘lot of favour’. There are hell and heaven of a difference between the two. There should be a balance between bat and ball. Neither the batsman nor the bowler should get extra advantage”
Harbhajan Singh further said, “Skill should be the deciding factor and not the conditions. Once the conditions start playing a bigger role, skill falls behind,”.
Ravichandran Ashwin recently became the second fastest 200 takers in the world and fastest in India in 37 matches. Previously the record was in Harbhajan Singh’s pocket, who took 46 matches to get there.
India won the first match with a big margin of 197 runs against New Zealand at Kanpur.