I have 5-6 years of cricket in me: Harbhajan

[Dravid_TheWall]

:headshake: a post by you without a mention of Sreesanth

Sad though :sniffle:

[Texan]

The worst part about Bhajji is that he's still not learnt anything. If he realized how dismal his performances have been, he would have said that he'll work hard in domestic cricket and try and make his performances make the selectors take another look at him. Instead he keeps living in the past. Somebody please tell Bhajji that 2011 - 2001 = 10 YEARS!! Don't live in the past. Do well today!!

[Texan]

For some strange reason' date=' he doesn't seem to remember his record in Australia quite as well :cantstop:[/quote'] Exactly. He just wants to harp on a series he played 10 years ago. He doesn't mention a single word about bowling well for Punjab and performing well in domestic cricket. Instead, he just wants selectors to pick him because he bowled well 10 years ago

[Ram]

This whole - Oh, he needs to do well in Ranji is sheer bollocks. We have seen plenty of times already - proven performers dont have to go back to FC cricket to show their credentials. Sehwag was being dismissed cheaply by the Saurarshtra XI when he was selected for the Aussie tour in 2007/08. The rest, as they say, is history. Ganguly didnt set the world on fire in FC in all of 2006, but he came into the team in 2007 to top the run-scoring charts for all batsmen in tests. We have seen so many times before - You casually jettison a proven performer from you team at your own peril. Having said all this, Bhajji was dropped for the Windies. The spinners who replaced him - Ashwin and Ojha - between them have nearly 30 wickets for the series. Its ridiculous to drop one of them now and bring back Bhajji for the next series we're going to play. That would constitute a meek of surrender because you're then saying to Bhajji 'Oh, we just dropped you for a single series in act of symbolism than anything else.. You can walk into the XI anytime you want..'. And listening to Bhajji give interviews recently, you can tell that he feels that his place in the Indian team is almost an entitlement. There's absolutely no fear of being dropped. If Ashwin and Ojha had been disappointing in the Windies series, yes, there's certainly room for Bhajji to come back. But these 2 guys are whole-hearted triers with real skill (though, I'd have preferred Aswhin and Mishra for this series). Dropping any one of them in favor of Bhajji at this point will smack of nepotism. Unfortunately, I am pretty sure the selectors will baulk under the pressure and pick for Australia and we will be back to square 1.

[CSK Fan]

Thats the problem, its inside him. He needs to get it out ASAP

[zen]

Out-of-favour off-spinner Harbhajan Singh feels that he still has another 5-6 years of cricket throwing darts left in him.

corrected

[Ram]

Btw, a bit disappointed in the manner in which Ravi Shastri was literally canvassing for Bhajji's inclusion into the test team for Australia during his commentary stint. Sure, as someone who is a genuine lover of Indian cricket, he's entitled to his own opinion as to who he thinks should be representing team India, but its really unfair on the other contenders when you're going to misuse such a massive broadcasting platform to literally campaign for one player. Whether he genuinely believe that Bhajji's inclusion into the Indian team will be beneficial to our prospects in Australia or not is immaterial, but he shouldnt be abusing the commentator's platform given to him.

[pensionplan]

Btw' date=' [b']a bit disappointed in the manner in which Ravi Shastri was literally canvassing for Bhajji's inclusion into the test team for Australia during his commentary stint. Sure, as someone who is a genuine lover of Indian cricket, he's entitled to his own opinion as to who he thinks should be representing team India, but its really unfair on the other contenders when you're going to misuse such a massive broadcasting platform to literally campaign for one player. Whether he genuinely believe that Bhajji's inclusion into the Indian team will be beneficial to our prospects in Australia or not is immaterial, but he shouldnt be abusing the commentator's platform given to him.

That is because he is a f*c*ing broker. All his life he made it big first by ass kissing SMG and now SRT. On trips I guarantee you will be able to find Shastri right under SRT's bed.

[pensionplan]

Out-of-favour off-spinner Harbhajan Singh feels that he still has another 5-6 years of cricket throwing darts left in him.

corrected

LOL.

[rahulrulezz]

That is because he is a f*c*ing broker. All his life he made it big first by ass kissing SMG and now SRT. On trips I guarantee you will be able to find Shastri right under SRT's bed.

Dude even I m fed up of SRK fanatics but that doesn't mean I hate on Sachin. Your cheap shots at Sachin are actually annoying n tbh pathetic. Stop bringing Sachin in everything.

[pensionplan]

Dude even I m fed up of SRK fanatics but that doesn't mean I hate on Sachin. Your cheap shots at Sachin are actually annoying n tbh pathetic. Stop bringing Sachin in everything.

How is me suggesting RJS kissing up to SMG and SRT based on my observation a hate of SRT?

[saneindian]

For the good of Indian cricket, it will be great if he found his bowling form soon. If he does get back his wicket taking form again, it would mean us having a great bowling option outside the national squad and it will keep pushing the likes of Ashwin and Ojha. Part of the reason why Bhajji lost form, as rightly pointed out by many, was his casual approach and taking his spot for granted. We do not want to see that happen to these young spinners now.

[rahulrulezz]

How is me suggesting RJS kissing up to SMG and SRT based on my observation a hate of SRT?

Read last line of ur last post. U r also insulting Sachin intentionally or non-intentionally.

[Cric_is_Life]

Shastri is mouthpiece of BCCI. I wont be shocked to see bhajji in the squad for the Aus Tour.:((

[rahulrulezz]

On topic, Ashwin is miles better than Bhajji in all forms of cricket. N tbh I see ppl underestimate Ashwins batting. Wait n watch how his batting will help us in future. Regarding Shastri, i think commentators should not overboard campaigning for specific players as it seems to be 'conflict of interest' to me... I still remember how commentators specially Gavaskar going gaga over Rohit Sharna during our last Aussie tour. I have never seen any commentator advertising for any player before that. I remember how lotsa fans joined that Rohit Sharma bandwagon after that campaign from Gavaskar. That is reason Rohit has got chance after chance to play Odis for India even after regular failures.

[daryl1985]

Out-of-favour off-spinner Harbhajan Singh feels that he still has another 5-6 years of cricket left in him. Although he praised the young spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha, who are doing well currently, the fiesty off--spinner said he never shies away from competition. "I do have another 5-6 years of cricket in me. I think I can still contribute to the side for some time," Harbhajan insisted. "Competition is good for the side, I am not afraid of competition. If I was afraid of competition, I wouldn't have played international cricket for 13 years. If there is no competition, the level of the game will not rise," he said. Following his dismal performance in the West Indies and the Lord's Test in England earlier this summer, Harbhajan has been out of the Indian team since the ODI series at home against the Englishmen. However, Harbhajan was optimistic about his selection for the upcoming tour of Australia and hinted that his record against Australia would be hard for the selectors to ignore. "My job is to play cricket and perform and not worry about selection, it's the selectors' job," he told at a programme in News24. "I enjoy playing against Australia. They are very aggressive and we need to be aggressive to counter them or they will start dominating you. I still remember the famous series in 2001 where I took 32 wickets in 3 Tests and the Australian media gave me the name 'Turbanator'." Harbhajan also hoped that Sachin Tendulkar would reach his milestone 100th century in the ongoing third Test in Mumbai. "I am praying he (Tendulkar) does it in Mumbai. There is no one better than him. I really hope he does it in Mumbai, he deserves it on his home ground," he said. Harbhajan also recalled the tough times senior players of the team had during Greg Chappell's tenure as coach. "It was one of the worst phases of Indian cricket. He had divided the team completely. It is wrong to say that he got the youngsters their due, he only divided the team by creating insecurity in the team. "I was insecure, Sachin was insecure. I was told if I took five wickets, only then will I play the next match. It was not a happy feeling in the team," he said. Meanwhile, Ravi Shastri has thrown his weight behind Harbhajan, saying the off-spinner should be included in the team for the upcoming tour of Australia as he has the "ability to get under their skin". "I will definitely call back Harbhajan. He's smelt the coffee against Australia more than anybody else. If you look at his record against Australia, it's better than anybody else," Shastri said. Harbhajan has failed to impress the selectors in the ongoing Ranji trophy in which he has managed to scalp only two wickets in three matches for Punjab at an average of 102. But Shastri, a former spinner himself, was quick to defend the offie. "Yes, I agree he hasn't set domestic cricket on fire, but how many spin bowlers do? Specially, on pitches that are good to bat and against players who are good against spin bowling. If you look at scorecards that go around in the last month, it's only batsmen getting runs and heaps of runs. Only fast bowlers have chipped in with wickets, but you don't see any spinners there setting the world on fire." "But in spite of all that, I would pick him, because come Australia, he has the ability to get under their skin," Shastri said. Recalling the infamous Sydney Test in 2008 when Harbhajan was in the middle of 'Monkeygate' scandal, Shastri believed that incident turned things around for India. "I think it's a vastly experienced side. It (Sydney-gate) taught them a lot and you could see the turnaround in Indian cricket. It all adds up and it all goes to show that India came better off out of that incident, than Australia did." Shastri also felt that the absence of a spinner of Shane Warne's caliber will be a disadvantage to the Australians. He also said the drubbing India received in England is history and Australian conditions will not be as hostile. "That (England tour) is history, absolute history. The conditions are different from England in many ways. You won't get that kind of lateral movement that you got in England. In England you got swing as well as seam. "Seam can trouble the Indians, but on Australian tracks which are hard and (with) the sun beating down, there might be seam movement for a session or so, but if you can see that through the ball comes on to the bat and we've got a middle order that likes the ball coming on to the bat." http://www.cricbuzz.com/cricket-news/46861/i-have-5-6-years-of-cricket-in-me-harbhajan Ah, the desperation :cantstop:

I don't know how much Ranji pitches have changed in a year but last season the following spin bowlers averaged: Ashwin: 24.2ish Bhatt: 21.6ish Abdulla: 22

[ganeshran]

Murmurs in the press suggest that Ashwin is going to be selected for the tour down under but rested from the ODI s to make way for Bhajji. Not sure how true this news is

[Jersey #10]

:mi: Who cares about Ranji? IPL is the real deal...

[Yoda-esque]

Wonder how they come to such a conclusion..5-6 years??

[Rajiv]

This whole - Oh, he needs to do well in Ranji is sheer bollocks. We have seen plenty of times already - proven performers dont have to go back to FC cricket to show their credentials. Sehwag was being dismissed cheaply by the Saurarshtra XI when he was selected for the Aussie tour in 2007/08. The rest, as they say, is history. Ganguly didnt set the world on fire in FC in all of 2006, but he came into the team in 2007 to top the run-scoring charts for all batsmen in tests. We have seen so many times before - You casually jettison a proven performer from you team at your own peril. Having said all this, Bhajji was dropped for the Windies. The spinners who replaced him - Ashwin and Ojha - between them have nearly 30 wickets for the series. Its ridiculous to drop one of them now and bring back Bhajji for the next series we're going to play. That would constitute a meek of surrender because you're then saying to Bhajji 'Oh, we just dropped you for a single series in act of symbolism than anything else.. You can walk into the XI anytime you want..'. And listening to Bhajji give interviews recently, you can tell that he feels that his place in the Indian team is almost an entitlement. There's absolutely no fear of being dropped. If Ashwin and Ojha had been disappointing in the Windies series, yes, there's certainly room for Bhajji to come back. But these 2 guys are whole-hearted triers with real skill (though, I'd have preferred Aswhin and Mishra for this series). Dropping any one of them in favor of Bhajji at this point will smack of nepotism. Unfortunately, I am pretty sure the selectors will baulk under the pressure and pick for Australia and we will be back to square 1.

Different strokes, I don't think we can compare Sehwags and Gangulys with Harbhajan, their stint in domestic is having fun at the nets and sooner or later, they would make it back to the national side. As for Harbhajan, he needs to show the results else the selectors won't see any difference Also, Ashwin shouldn't have said anything about the Mumbai pitch so soon, he is a new kid around the block and it would be different bail game to spin it in Australia vs a weak West Indian line up at home