Sourav Ganguly, former India skipper, has advised Harbhajan Singh to move on after the out of favour off-spinner was involved in an ugly incident with India’s premier spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.
Harbhajan, who has lost his place in the team to Ashwin, took a dig at the Tamil Nadu bowler by saying that he is getting tailor-made pitches that have played a significant role in his meteoric rise.
Speaking to a Bengali daily, the Turbanator had said: :“What we used to get, can be termed as ‘little favour’ and what happens now is ‘lot of favour’. There’s 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. Skill should be the deciding factor and not the conditions. Once the conditions start playing a bigger role, skill falls behind.”
He later took to Twitter to prove his point by saying that he and fellow spinner Anil Kumble would have taken a lot of wickets had they got the same favour.
Only 2 in my 103 tests.. Kumble and my test wicket count would have been something else if we got wickets like last 4 years we playing on? https://t.co/fvkdVw1I1v
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) October 9, 2016
The saga finally came to an end when both the players took to Twitter to clear the statements.
“By pitting players against each other we aren’t going to gain anything but just a juicy headline. Lets respect ppl and keep the game healthy,” Ashwin tweeted.
In reply, Harbhajan tweeted:“Dear got nothing against you. For some reasons my words are misconstrued. Wish you nothing but the best ?? Keep the flag high! God bless.”
And now Ganguly, under whom Harbhajan became one of the finest spinners in the world, has said that the Punjab spinner should leave the incident behind and move ahead.
Speaking to ESPNcricinfo, Ganguly said:“He’s (Harbhajan) has got to take it easy. He’s been a champion bowler, and he should move ahead.”
“I know some of the (current) pitches are square turners but that’s not Ashwin’s fault. Ashwin has got those pitches to bowl on and he had bowled well on it,” Ganguly concluded.