File photo of Ravichandran Ashwin (left) and Ravindra Jadeja© AFP
The playing XI picked by the Indian cricket team for the third Test against Australia has come under harsh criticism. Earlier, former India batter Aakash Chopra criticised the team’s inconsistency with spinners and now ex-India spinner Harbhajan Singh has also talked on the same topic. Notably, India rested both Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja in the first Test and went ahead with Washington Sundar. In the second game, the Rohit Sharma-led side rested Sundar to make place for Ashwin, while the very next game saw Ashwin being replaced by Jadeja.
When asked about his opinion on constant changes in the team, in reference to Jadeja’s inclusion, Harbhajan termed the team selection ‘unacceptable’.
“If I respond to this question, headlines would be made,” Harbhajan started while answering during his commentary on Star Sports.
“Don’t think what happened was right. Sundar played the first Test but your prime spinners were (R) Ashwin and (Ravindra) Jadeja. You played Sundar but should’ve persisted with him. You dropped him to bring Ashwin in, who didn’t bowl bad by any means. I thought Ashwin or Sundar should’ve been picked for the third Test but Jadeja was picked. It has become a big question for me,” he added.
Notably, Ashwin is the Indian bowler with second-most Test wickets. With the tally of 537, he is behind legendary Anil Kumble (619 wickets) and ahead of great Kapil Dev (434 wickets). Jadeja is not much behind in the list, holding the fifth spot with 319 wickets.
“Maybe they (Team India) don’t trust any spinner. One has over 300 wickets, other over 500 wickets. This team selection isn’t acceptable to me. I wanted to see either Ashwin or Sundar,” said Harbhajan, who holds the fourth spot in the list of India’s highest wicket-takers in Tests with 417 scalps.
“Now that Jadeja has been picked, I hope he plays next match too as chopping on changing would lower the confidence of players,” he concluded.
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