Will Harbhajan's career take a rebirth?

July 4, 2012

harbhajansingh

Harbhajan Singh is the enfant terrible of Indian cricket, someone who polarizes opinions of seismic proportions. For his ardent fans, he's a feisty and spirited cricketer of implacable resolve and unmatched flair with prodigious talent to back. For his detractors, he’s an over-rated player who thrives on dash and petulance rather than guile, flight and loop - the adornments of an offspinner.

Despite claiming more than 400 Test and over 250 ODI wickets, why Harbhajan's name doesn't figure in the pantheon of greats is an enigma hard to untangle. He made his ODI and Test debut in 1998 but it took him three years to gain eminence. When Australia arrived in India in 2001, they were riding high on 15 consecutive Test victories. They demolished India in the first Test of the series in Mumbai and looked set to continue their untrammeled rampage.

But then their dream run came to a screeching halt in the second Test in Kolkata. Though VVS Laxman, rightfully, walked away with kudos for his Houdini act, Harbhajan's contribution was no less as he picked up 13 wickets in match, in the process becoming the first Indian bowler to notch up a Test hat-trick. Another 15 wickets in the thrilling finale in Chennai gave Harbhajan 32 victims for the series, and India a remarkable 2-1 win.

Harbhajan received unstinted support and encouragement from then captain Sourav Ganguly and became a regular member of the Indian team. He won a string of Test matches for India on home soil but his performance outside India remained largely mediocre. His ODI record - 259 wickets in 229 matches - is fair, without being spectacular, but his economy rate of 4.30 in an era where batsmen reign supreme suggests that he contributed quite a bit to the team even in the shorter format.

But Harbhajan's reluctance to flight the ball and often bowling flat to contain batsmen rather than trying to get them out has received scathing flak from purists and connoisseurs. He's a rhythm bowler whose strength is the extra bounce which he extracts on pitches conducive to his style of bowling. Despite criticism, he remained India's No. 1 offspinner for almost a decade and was sometimes preferred over his legspin counterpart Anil Kumble.

About a year and half ago, things started to go wrong for Harbhajan. The wickets dried up, his attitude was increasingly questioned, and the arrival of Ravichandran Ashwin, coupled with shoddy form, saw him relegated to the background. His fitness too didn't stand him in good stead. In the 2011 World Cup, Harbhajan managed nine wickets in nine matches at an unflattering average of 43.33 and in the next ODI series in the Caribbean he didn't do anything of note.

He was worse in Test cricket. During the disastrous England tour last year, Harbhajan strained his abdominal muscle during the second Test at Trent Bridge and was ruled out for the rest of the series. He played two Tests in England and managed just two wickets. The Trent Bridge Test was the last international match played by Harbhajan. Even after he recovered from the injury, he found himself out of contention and was snubbed for the Test and ODI series against West Indies at home. He was not considered for the Australian tour, which prompted Harbhajan to express surprise over his relentless exclusion from the Indian squad.

He played the Vijay Hazare Trophy, India's domestic one-day tournament, last season in a bid to impress selectors but couldn't put up remarkable show. Seven wickets in eight matches - he went wicketless in three matches - is hardly a performance he can boast of.

His litany of woes continued in IPL 5. In fact, he didn't bowl his quota of four overs in most of the matches and in some crucial matches, including Mumbai's preliminary final match against Chennai Super Kings. Barring a couple of matches, Harbhajan was taken to the cleaners and looked a pale shadow of his former self. To exacerbate the matters, his on-field conduct as captain of Mumbai was severely censured. A lot of people saw his outburst against the umpire in the match against Deccan Chargers as a result of his pent-up frustration.

Besides the form and rhythm, Harbhajan has ran out of luck and steam of late. With Ashwin snapping at the heels and form (also age, to some extent) not on his side, making a comeback into the Indian side is going to be a Herculean task for the offspinner who's celebrating his 32nd birthday today. The Indian selectors will pick the team for the ODI series in Sri Lanka tomorrow and Harbhajan wouldn't mind having even the icing, if not the entire cake, as a birthday present.

For now, Happy Birthday, Harbhajan. Hope your career gets a ‘doosra’ life.



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Agencies
January 5,2020

Mumbai, Jan 5: All-rounder Irfan Pathan on Saturday announced his retirement from all forms of cricket, ending an injury-ridden career that prevented him from realising his true potential.

The 35-year-old's retirement was on expected lines, considering he last played a competitive game in February 2019 during the Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy for Jammu and Kashmir.

He did not even put himself in the IPL auction pool, last month.

The left-arm seamer's bowling was like a breath of fresh air when he made his India debut against Australia at the Adelaide Oval in 2003.

He never had express pace but his natural ability to swing the ball into the right-handers got him instant success, also drawing comparisons with the great Kapil Dev.

It seemed India had found the all-rounder they were looking for since Kapil left the scene. Pathan, who last played for India in October 2012, featured in 29 Tests (1105 runs and 100 wickets), 120 ODIs (1544 runs and 173 wickets) and 24 T20 Internationals (172 runs and 28 wickets).

He was part of the victorious Indian team at the 2007 World Twenty20 and was the man-of-the-match in the final against Pakistan.

One of his best performances came on the tour of Pakistan in 2006 when he became the second Indian after Harbhajan Singh to take a Test hat-trick, removing Salman Butt, Younis Khan and Mohammad Yusuf during the Karachi game.

He also played a big role in India winning a Test match against Australia on a tough Perth wicket, which offered steep bounce.

Injuries and lack of form troubled him thereafter and his ability to swing the ball deteriorated.

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News Network
July 24,2020

Dubai, Jul 24: The eagerly-awaited Indian Premier League will start on September 19 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with the final slated on November 8, IPL Chairman Brijesh Patel told PTI on Friday.

While the event's Governing Council will meet next week to chalk out the final details and approve the schedule, it is understood that the BCCI has informally intimated the franchises about the plan.

"The GC will meet shortly but we have finalised the schedule. It will run from September 19 to November 8. We expect the government approval to come through. It is a full 51-day IPL," Patel confirmed the development after PTI reported the dates on Thursday.

The IPL has been made possible by the ICC's decision to postpone the October-November T20 World Cup in Australia owing to the COVID-19 pandemic due to which the host country expressed its inability to conduct the event.

Patel said that the Standard Operating Procedure to combat the COVID-19 threat is being prepared and the BCCI will formally write to the Emirates Cricket Board.

"We are making the SOP and it will be ready in a few days. To allow crowd or not depends on the UAE government. Anyway social distancing has to be maintained. We have left it for their government to decide on that. Will also be writing to the UAE board formally," Patel said.

There are three grounds available in the UAE -- Dubai International Stadium, Sheikh Zayed Stadium (Abu Dhabi) and the Sharjah ground.

It is learnt that the BCCI will be renting the grounds of the ICC Academy for training of the teams.

The ICC Academy has two full-sized cricket grounds along with 38 turf pitches, 6 indoor pitches, a 5700 square foot outdoor conditioning area along with physiotherapy and medicine centre.

As per the current health protocol in Dubai, there is no need to be in quarantine if people are carrying a negative COVID-19 test report, but if they are not, they will have to undergo a test.

While there was speculation that the IPL will start from September 26, the BCCI decided to advance it by a week in order to ensure that the Indian team's tour of Australia is not jeopardised.

"The Indian team will have a mandatory quarantine of 14 days as per the Australian government rules. A delay would have sent the plans haywire," a BCCI official said on conditions of anonymity.

"The best part is that 51 days is not at all a curtailed period and broadcasters will be happy with full seven-week window," he added.

While the original schedule had five double-headers, Patel said the new one will feature around 12 double-headers which means two matches each on both Saturdays and Sundays.

The Indians are set to play a four-match Test series against Australia starting December 3 in Brisbane after the IPL.

It is expected that with each and every team needing at least a month's time to train, the IPL franchises will be leaving base by August 20 which gives them exactly four weeks time to prepare.

The cash-rich event was originally scheduled to start at the end of March but the COVID-19 pandemic and the travel restrictions that were put in place to contain the virus, led to an indefinite postponement.

However, BCCI President Sourav Ganguly had always maintained that the event will be held some time this year.

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News Network
July 21,2020

Jul 21: The tickets sold for the now-postponed ICC T20 World Cup will remain valid if Australia hosts the edition in 2021 instead of India.

In case the event is shifted to 2022, all ticket-holders will be entitled to a full refund, the ICC stated on its website on Monday night after postponing the mega-event this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The tournament was to be held in October-November but will now be conducted later because of the pandemic.

The ICC has not yet announced which country will host which edition as there are operational issues that both the Indian and Australian cricket Boards need to sort out.

The world body had opened ticket booking through its ticketing partners and a significant number was already sold.

"Ticket holders are welcome to retain their tickets, noting, if Australia hosts in 2021, tickets will remain valid for fans who have already bought and will be automatically updated to reflect the new dates.

"If Australia hosts in 2022, for tickets already bought a full refund will be processed automatically," ICC stated in a series of FAQs.

Fans can retain their tickets until a date is confirmed for the event.

Refund requests can be made until December 15 and they will be processed within 30 days after an online submission.

The hospitality package will also remain valid for the 2021 fixtures.

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