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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News Network
May 27,2020

Bengaluru, May 27: Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar has revealed that he was never able to dismiss Inzamam-ul-Haq in the nets.

The Rawalpindi Express praised the former Pakistan skipper and said Inzamam could see the ball one second earlier than the rest of the batsmen could.

"Honestly, I don't think I could ever get him (Inzamam) out, he had the time and I always felt he saw the ball a second earlier than the rest of the batsmen because I had a complicated action unlike Brett Lee, I felt I could never dismiss Inzamam-ul-Haq," Akhtar told Sanjay Manjrekar in a videocast hosted by ESPNCricinfo.

"I couldn't get him out in the nets, I think he could see the ball a second before anyone else," he added.

Inzamam played 120 Tests and 378 ODIs for Pakistan.

He finished his career with 20,569 runs across all formats.

The right-handed batsman called time on his career in 2007 and he played his last Test against South Africa in Lahore.

On the other hand, Akhtar played 224 matches for Pakistan in international cricket and took 444 wickets across all formats.

The Rawalpindi Express last played an ODI in 2011 as he played against New Zealand in the 50-over World Cup.

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News Network
April 28,2020

Chennai, Apr 28: Former Karnataka batsman J Arun Kumar was on Tuesday appointed coach of the USA cricket team and listed earning a Test status, by his own admission a "far-fetched" thought at the moment, among his long-term goals.

Jak, as he is known in the cricketing circles, has worked with the Karnataka team for several years and as batting coach with IPL franchise Kings XI Punjab.

"... Following an exhaustive recruitment process, former first class Ranji Trophy and IPL player and coach, J Arun Kumar, had been identified as the preferred candidate for the next men's head coach," USA Cricket chief executive Iain Higgins said on its website.

The CEO added, "He travelled to the USA to meet support staff, selectors and players at a talent camp in Houston and to continue those discussions with us.

"I'm delighted to say that we have subsequently reached agreement with Jak that he will take up the role and be permanently based in the United States as and when his working visa has been obtained."

Arun Kumar was also in charge of a fledgling Puducherry team before quitting in February owing to differences with the association officials.

The COVID-19 pandemic has however prevented a prompt departure for the United States.

"Of course, the COVID-19 crisis has now presented some challenges around the scope of the role in the short/medium term, but we look forward to completing all of the arrangements and to welcoming him more formally in due course," Higgins said.

Arun kumar, who scored over 7,200 runs in first-class cricket and over 3,000 runs in List 'A' games, had guided Karnataka to a treble for two successive seasons -- Ranji Trophy, Vijay Hazare Trophy and Irani Cup -- in 2013-14 and 2014-15.

Delighted to get the role, the 45-year old said he has a vision for USA cricket, including making it a Test-playing nation.

"The first thing is based on my visa and when the coronavirus situation will end in the US, so it's all based on that. At what time my visa will be approved, that's when I will be heading there.

"There are long, mid and short-term goals and my vision obviously will be that the USA in the coming years will be one of the Test playing nations.

"It's a far-fledged goal, but yes, that's the vision and as of now the short term will be World Cup league.

"We will have to be the top side in that and then go to the next level," Arun Kumar told PTI in an interaction.

He further said the immediate aim is to get the team together after a bad run in Nepal.

"Priority is to get the team together, we had a bad run in Nepal, so obviously the team is on little down slide, so we will get up and the immediate short-term goal is to get in touch with players.

"This lockdown gives us time to actually know each other, although we are spread out in different parts of the country, and it is gives us time to connect better and work on certain mental and tactical aspects of the game," he added.

Arun Kumar had been in the US briefly some time ago and had met some officials, selectors and players at a camp in Houston.

"I met some officials, selectors and players at a talent camp in Houston and got an insight of what I can expect in the future and based on those we have designed a pathway for junior to senior cricket and women's cricket.

"It is a work in progress," he said.

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Agencies
January 16,2020

New Delhi, Jan 16: Veteran cricketer Mithali Raj was on Thursday demoted to Grade B from A in the BCCI central contracts while Radha Yadav and Taniya Bhatia were elevated to the middle bracket.

Mithali not being kept in the Rs 50 lakh category was expected as the 37-year-old retired from T20s in September last year. However, she remains the ODI captain and plans to carry on till the 2021 World Cup.

T20 skipper Harmanpreet Kaur retained his A category contract alongside Smriti Mandhana and Poonam Yadav.

Radha and Taniya, who both had a Grade C contract worth Rs 10 lakh last year, have now entered Grade B (Rs 30 lakh).

Players getting a central contract for the first time are 15-year-old opener Shafali Verma and Harleen Deol, who like the teenager is an attacking batter.

Shafali has attracted a lot of attention ever since making her India debut last year. She recently made 124 against Australia A in Brisbane. The opener will be expected to deliver in the upcoming T20 World Cup Down Under.

Dropped from the list is Mona Meshram, who was in Grade C last year and hasn't played a single game in recent times.

The latest contracts run from October 2019 to September 2020.

Grade A (Rs 50 lakh): Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Poonam Yadav.

Grade B (Rs 30 lakh): Mithali Raj, Jhulan Goswami, Ekta Bisht, Radha Yadav, Taniya Bhatia, Shikha Pandey, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma.

Grade C (Rs 10 lakh): Veda Krishnamurthy, Punam Raut, Anuja Patil, Mansi Joshi, D Hemlatha, Arundhati Reddy, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Pooja Vastrakar, Harleen Deol, Priya Punia, Shafali Verma.

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