Former Indian spinner Maninder Singh has slammed Harbhajan Singh for his comments on the pitches that are being provided to the Indian team.
A few days ago, the off-spinner, who is not a part of the team right now, vented his frustration on pitch curators for providing friendly pitches to Ravichandran Ashwin. Talking to a Bengali daily, Bhajji 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 was not done yet and criticised the Indore pitch on which India was scheduled to play the third Test against New Zealand. Even before the start of the match, he tweeted:
Already looks like 2 days old pitch before the 1st bowl is bowled..my predictions match won't go more then 3 and half days.. https://t.co/obn4qVRnP6
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) October 8, 2016
When a fan asked him why he didn’t question the nature of pitch during the ‘Ind vs SA, Kanpur Test in 2008 and Ind vs Aus Test in Mumbai 2004?’, he said:
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
As expected, he faced the ire of fans and now the former spinner has criticised the bowler. He said that the Punjab spinner should enjoy Ashwin’s success rather than complaining about it.
Talking to CricketNext, he said:“I think being such a great bowler that he has been, Harbhajan should refrain from comments like this because he too has got wickets like this to bowl on and has got plenty of wickets on those kinds of tracks.”
He also advised the spinner to stay humble.
“Having played with someone like Sachin Tendulkar, Harbhajan has not learnt how to stay humble. By being humble someone like Bhajji can get a lot of respect. Harbhajan should enjoy Ashwin’s success and be happy about his achievements,” Maninder said.
Meanwhile, Maninder heaped lavish praise on Ashwin and backed him to take more than 500 Test wickets on current form.
As a spinner, I can tell you that Ashwin is in great form and rhythm. It’s a treat to watch the way the ball is coming out of Ashwin’s hand currently. If he keeps going the way he is, he should take more than 500 Test wickets,” Maninder concluded.