'Harbhajan was selected considering the number of left-handers in the Bangladesh team'
'The selection committee represents each and every cricketer of India and we don’t have emotional attachments'
Chairman of selectors Sandeep Patil's explanation for Harbhajan Singh's inclusion in the squad for the one-off Test in Bangladesh next month. Harish Kotian reports.
He last played international cricket nearly two years ago, but every time you spoke with Harbhajan Singh you could feel that desperation to make a comeback to the Indian team.
The Ranji Trophy did not go to plan. He could play only three games for Punjab because of injury and managed just six wickets in the tournament. But in the ongoing Indian Premier League he showed glimpses of his old form, claiming 16 wickets from 14 matches, which proved vital in him being included in India's Test squad for the Bangladesh tour.
Harbhajan, who has taken 413 in 101 Tests, may have fallen out of previous Test captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni's favour, but new skipper Virat Kohli still believes in the 34-year-old’s capabilities with the ball.
Chairman of selectors Sandeep Patil gave a more technical explanation for the off-spinner's inclusion in the squad for the one-off Test in Bangladesh next month.
"I think Harbhajan Singh was discussed in our earlier meetings also, particularly regarding this Bangladesh tour. The selection committee, and I am speaking on the behalf of the selection committee, has picked Harbhajan considering the number of left-handers in the Bangladesh team. The selection committee felt that a second off-spinner was needed.
"We also had a long discussion with captain Virat Kohli on this issue and then the decision was taken," he said, after Wednesday’s selection committee meeting at the BCCI head office in Mumbai.
Harbhajan took over as India's No. 1 spinner following the retirement of Anil Kumble in November 2008, but his performance dipped in the last few years and the emergence of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja meant he dropped down the ranks.
While Ashwin made an impression in Test cricket in the last year or so, both at home and overseas, Jadeja struggled with the ball, claiming just 12 wickets in his last six Tests, at a strike rate of 122.5.
Patil believes that Harbhajan’s selection is not a backward step for Indian cricket, but based on the requirements of the team combination for the Bangladesh tour.
"The selection committee represents each and every cricketer of India and we don’t have emotional attachments. We look for the performances and the fitness and the combination as to whether a particular player, a bowler or batsman, fits in that combination. And last two years we have made some mistakes and maybe we will make some mistakes, but we have to learn from the mistakes.
"Indian cricket has gone through a transition period which we all know and we are just trying to settle down," the former India batsman added.
However, Patil insisted that the selectors are not in a hurry to draft Harbhajan into the ODI squad, especially after India's good showing in the World Cup, where they lost in the semi-finals.
"We have recently returned from the World Cup where the Indian team performed quite well. So chopping and changing and disturbing the combination is not what the selectors felt… that it is not the right time. Whenever needed in the future, if fitness is the issue, then we will think about that too," he said.
Jadeja enjoyed the backing of ex-captain Dhoni and continued to retain his place in the Test team despite a poor showing in the last couple of years, but Patil said the selectors do not believe in retaining a player if he continues to fail.
"In the last two years our selection policies or methods, if you see, we have not been stuck to one particular player; whether it is the batting order or the bowling order, we have given chances to youngsters, the deserving youngsters and, at times, if that particular player has failed we have replaced him with another player.”
It's a golden opportunity for Harbhajan, if he does play, to get his record straight in Bangladesh, where he has played three Tests but claimed just six wickets.
He is certainly aware that this lifeline could be his final one. If he performs, his career will get back on track; failure in Bangladesh could see it end.
Also read:
- Harbhajan back in Test squad for Bangladesh tour
- 'It's a new innings which I want to start on a confident note'
