‘We should play on good surfaces, it’s high time’ – Harbhajan Singh slams India after loss to South Africa

Harbhajan Singh (Source: Pankaj Nangia/Getty Images)

Former Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh has come down hard on the kind of pitches that are being prepared in India. Plenty of others have also argued that the Indian pitches have been quite one-dimensional.

Harbhajan linked the lack of growth of Indian cricket to the nature of the pitches being prepared in the name of home advantage. He also highlighted that plenty of Indian spinners have been found wanting on even slightly less spin-conducive tracks.

“The kind of pitches we have been playing on, there is no requirement of making a bowler out of anyone because every delivery spins or some straighten. A bowler can (only) be considered good when they take wickets on good pitches. We should play on good cricket pitches — it is high time. It has been more than a decade playing on those pitches where there has not been overall growth of (Indian) cricket,” stated Harbhajan, as quoted by India Today.

Harbhajan, who picked up 417 Test wickets with his off-spin, felt there is no quality off-spinner in the Indian team, in particular after R Ashwin’s retirement.

“Looks like (India does not have a specialist right-arm off-spinner for Test cricket). I think Washington Sundar is there, but we will have to bowl him more. He will have to be bowled for 30-35 overs in a Test match to make a bowler out of him,” he added.

For the unversed, the Indian spinners took fewer wickets than those from South Africa in the recently-concluded two-match Test series. The spin bowlers were not able to break through the Proteas batters despite playing in familiar conditions.

With age not on Jadeja’s side, India will be on the lookout for a left-arm spinner to match his legacy for when he announces retirement from Tests. Speaking of Sundar, he bowled only 49 overs across three innings in the red-ball matches in Kolkata and Guwahati.

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