Harbhajan Singh On Weak Indian Batting Vs Spin: Former Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh has revealed a massive issue behind Test match cricket in India and feels that it is resulting in batters losing their confidence.
Bhajji needs no introduction. One of the most iconic spinners in the Indian Cricket Team’s history. Harbhajan is ranked fifth in the most ODI wickets for the national team and fourth in the list of highest Test wicket-takers.
After retiring from all forms of cricket a few years back, the 44-year-old took up broadcasting. A Hindi and Punjabi commentator for Star Sports, Singh also has a YouTube channel, where he is known to, on occasion, give opinions that many people disagree with.
Harbhajan recently spoke about how the ability of Indian batters to play spin bowling has taken a massive hit in recent years. This comment was prompted by India’s recent 2-0 loss to Sri Lanka in the recent ODI series, which was the Men in Blue’s first loss in an ODI series in the island nation since 1997.
What emerged as the biggest issue with the losing Indian team was how the batters could not navigate the Lankan Lions’ spin-bowling. The Indian batting order looked hapless in front of the wrath of the Sri Lankan spin, even getting dismissed for 138 within 27 overs in the last match.
For the longest time, Indian batters have been known for their mastery against spin bowling. While yes, the team will always lose wickets against spin, that can’t be stopped, but Indian took on and scored against spin a lot better than other teams in the world. That seems to not be the case anymore.
Harbhajan Singh On Weak Indian Batting Vs Spin
On a recent appearance on Sports Tak, Harbhajan Singh reckoned the reason behind India losing its ability to bat against spin has been the quality of Test cricket pitches in the country. On occasion, especially against big teams, Test pitches in India tend to turn ferociously. Bhajji feels that the tracks spinning this much are making even Indian batters lose confidence.
“We’ve started playing on pitches that turn a lot more. We wanted to win, and we did win, but we wanted to win in two and a half days. I think if we had produced normal pitches that started to turn from Day 3 and Day 4, we still would have won, but the batters would have gotten time to settle in. And we wouldn’t be discussing the problems of our batters against spinners. We dented the confidence of our batters because anybody gets out on those pitches,” he said.
There is some weight behind that statement. In the five-match Test series against England earlier this year, not a single match went to the fifth day. Similarly, during the 2023 Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia, three matches finished on the third day and only one game was drawn.
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