A day before Dussehra, former Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh created a storm when he indicated that the current test team has been performing well due to tailor-made pitches at home. At that time, India had already beaten the visiting New Zealand team in the first two test matches while the third was going on in Indore. The turbanator implied that he would have got more wickets if he had been given the same spin-friendly pitches as today during his time. Was this a fair analysis or was it sheer jealousy at seeing another off-spinner bringing more laurels for the country than he did in his career?
BCCL
Bhajji is India's third- most successful bowler after the legendary Anil Kumble and Kapil Dev with 417 wickets in 103 test matches. What is surprising is that the popular cricket star decided to go public with his view which portrayed Ravichandran Ashwin as a poor bowler in comparison. Barring a few series, India has always prepared spin friendly pitches for visiting teams over the last four decades. Secondly, if the pitch was really such a turner, then why weren¡¯t the Kiwis able to get the Indian team out in both innings?
BCCL
Eventually a bowler is measured by the wickets he takes and a glance at the comparative record of both Bhajji and Ashwin reveals that the latter is far ahead in all aspects. Bhajji had 417 wickets in 190 innings while Ashwin has 220 of them in only 72 innings and has picked up 48 more wickets than Bhajji had after 39 tests.
AP
Bhajji snared 152 batsmen in 48 away tests with a wicket every 76 balls while Ashwin has 67 wickets in 17 tests getting a wicket every 62 balls.
Indian skipper Virat Kohli chose to remain mum but Bhajji¡¯s jibe seemed to have goaded Ashwin to give a fitting reply with his bowling. The Tamil Nadu spinner returned with career-best figures of 13 wickets in the match, as if mocking Bhajji that he will soon replace the Jalandhar boy as India¡¯s best off-spinner ever.