Out of form, Harbhajan struggles to get his act together

Ever since Anil Kumble retired from international cricket, Harbhajan Singh has taken over the mantle of being India’s leading bowler in Test cricket, reports Amol Karhadkar.

Ever since Anil Kumble retired from international cricket, Harbhajan Singh has taken over the mantle of being India’s leading bowler in Test cricket.

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However, one must not ignore Zaheer Khan’s craft with the new and the old ball, which has aided Harbhajan in attacking the opposition batsmen.

With the leading pacer unavailable for the whole series, Harbhajan has had to shoulder the responsibility of leading an otherwise inexperienced attack on his own.

And mid-way through the second Test against Lanka, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to conclude that the off-spinner has failed miserably.

Neither has Harbhajan been able to contain the batsmen nor has he succeeded in picking up wickets, something that the Indian team management desperately expected.

Agreed, that in the first Test at Galle last week, having just recovered from a bout of fever, Harbhajan never looked fit for a five-day grind. But once he raised his hand and wore the white flannels, he had to come good, but it was not to be. It wasn’t a surprise to see him end the match without a wicket in his 32.1 overs.

If Galle was bad, Sinhalese Sports club has been even worse for the spinner. What was most disappointing was Harbhajan’s line of attack.

While on the opening day, he opted to bowl way outside off-stump to Kumar Sangakkara and Tharanga Paranavitana, the offie preferred to bowl around the stumps to right-handers on Tuesday, almost nullifying his wicket-taking chances.

“Given the fact that that bowling unit that they have, Bhajji seems to be the most experienced and the most dangerous out of their lot and we knew that if you try and control him, being heir match-winner, if we can be more consistent with all the game plans, we can negate him. Given that they are short of few senior bowlers, Bhajji is the main threat for us,” said Mahela Jayawardene.

After bowling 449 balls and conceding 269 runs, India’s premier bowler finally opened his account in the series, with what turned out to be the last ball of the Lankan innings.