Gollum Posted August 14, 2015 Posted August 14, 2015 India's tour of England after CWC 2011 is when the decline became terminal(for many players in fact :P). He was never the same bowler after 2005-2006. If I remember correctly at that time his bowling average was hovering around the 26-27 mark but after that, specifically during/after the Chappell era he wasn't the same force as before. He still gave occasional good performances like NZ tour 2009, home and away series against RSA etc but was in the team only because of little competition for the spinner's slot and patronage from some of our superstars. Will never forget how he chickened out in England after being spanked around the park whole day. Bowling average=56.92 SR=101.38 7 matches with around 220 overs isn't a small sample size!!! Many of those overs were bowled on pitches conducive to spin bowling. I did a little bit of digging into his Ranji exploits and it was shocking to see his records there since 2011. He is the 4th or 5th best spinner from Punjab since 2011(behind UV and in spite of protecting his figures by not bowling when the going got tough) and around 60-70 players have more wickets at better average throughout the country( at least 20 spinners among them, many specialist batsmen too have done better with the ball :giggle:) This must be the most disgraceful and undeserving selection in a very very long time. How do the selectors explain this? Is IPL the basis for test team selection? What message are they sending to youngsters who toil day in and day out in domestic cricket dreaming of playing for India one day? This is the problem with India, so much favoritism and corruption in every aspect of life. Precisely why we are also so poor in sports. A has been who has played over 100 tests,taking 400+ wickets and earned good amount of money courtesy Indian cricket and IPL is still seemingly unmovable just because of bloody politics. http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/474472.html http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/474473.html http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/565807.html http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/598812.html http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/598813.html http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/870729.html http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/895773.html
sensible-indian Posted August 14, 2015 Posted August 14, 2015 Cmon bro....now you are just bullying him when he has given up. His selection was dumb or there must be something else at play. Sadly big name cricketers get more leeway. We had to face major humiliations before Sehwag, Gambo, Yuvi, SRT had to be removed. With all being said, I feel a bit sorry for Bhajji. He will retire or be dropped after this series. Maybe even reported for it. To be honest, he needs to tested cos in IPL others do get tested.
Gollum Posted August 14, 2015 Author Posted August 14, 2015 Cmon bro....now you are just bullying him when he has given up. Yes, his selection was dumb or there must be something else at play. With all being said, I feel a bit sorry for him. He will retire or be dropped after this series. Maybe even reported for it. To be honest, he needs to tested cos in IPL others do get tested. Doubt he logs on to ICF :P I no longer feel sorry for him, just want the deadweights like him and Maggi out. He should retire soon to safeguard his legacy and not go the Kapil Dev/SRT way but I doubt that is going to happen. Our selectors and management are retarded, that's why we are stuck with these two in the first place in test cricket. He must be reported at least to prove to the world that the testing is fair and not biased against the weaker countries. I know that Ojha was reported for chucking but Harbhajan has the backing of many influential elements in Indian cricket and MI.
sensible-indian Posted August 14, 2015 Posted August 14, 2015 Doubt he logs on to ICF :P I no longer feel sorry for him, just want the deadweights like him and Maggi out. He should retire soon to safeguard his legacy and not go the Kapil Dev/SRT way but I doubt that is going to happen. Our selectors and management are retarded, that's why we are stuck with these two in the first place in test cricket. He must be reported at least to prove to the world that the testing is fair and not biased against the weaker countries. I know that Ojha was reported for chucking but Harbhajan has the backing of many influential elements in Indian cricket and MI. Actually that is getting a bit embarrassing for us. Everyone is getting reported. Even our own Ojha (internally and asked to change action). But Bhajji whose action HARDLY looks clean doesn't even get reported even in IPL (where Narine got reported twice).
HippoSucks Posted August 14, 2015 Posted August 14, 2015 Harbhajan isn’t going to get picked for too long whether he retires or not. Against most teams India will not be running 3 spinners and Harbhajan is not going to be the second spinner ahead of Mishra in tests.
The Realist Posted August 14, 2015 Posted August 14, 2015 He ain't going anywhere as Kohli and Shastri have made him feel wanted. Banking on another 5 years in the team. "We had a briefing in the dressing room where Virat addressed the team and mentioned me. He said, ''We are looking for you to come and help us get those 20 wickets. We want you to be a part of us for this season and help us win Test matches because that is our goal to win every Test match we play. We want you to help the other bowlers get into the frame of mind of picking wickets with your experience and skills?. "Ravi (Shastri) bhai too was full of words and that gave me a lot of confidence. It made me feel wanted. After that it was all back to normal, like it was two years back," he was quoted as saying by BCCI TV. He is satisfied with how he is bowling and doesn''t think much about his place in the national side. "Stay fit and live every day to the fullest. Don?t think too far, enjoy and be thankful for what you have today. I don?t know what is going to happen five years down the line. I am over that sort of mindset. I want to appreciate what I have right now," said Harbhajan when asked about his next goal. http://www.dnaindia.com/sport/report-virat-kohli-ravi-shastri-bhai-made-me-feel-wanted-harbhajan-singh-2106327
Gollum Posted August 14, 2015 Author Posted August 14, 2015 He ain't going anywhere as Kohli and Shastri have made him feel wanted. Banking on another 5 years in the team. ****
Vijy Posted August 14, 2015 Posted August 14, 2015 Terrible figures - arguably one of the world's worst bowlers since that period. Mohd. Sami from Pak also comes to mind.
Switchblade Posted August 14, 2015 Posted August 14, 2015 He ain't going anywhere as Kohli and Shastri have made him feel wanted. Banking on another 5 years in the team. :hysterical::hysterical::hysterical::hysterical:
Franco Vazquez Posted August 14, 2015 Posted August 14, 2015 India needs to boot him out and select good bowlers like Shreyas Gopal and Appanna
Vijy Posted August 14, 2015 Posted August 14, 2015 India needs to boot him out and select good bowlers like Shreyas Gopal and Appanna More apt to ask Appanna who? Completely faded away in recent times. Karnataka have also destroyed Gopal by making him a batting allrounder; had an ordinary Ranji (and other FC matches) season with the ball. But, Gopal needs to be nurtured as he is a genuine talent... hopefully, he will come back stronger.
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