Axing Harbhajan From The One Day Team Is A Step In The Right Direction

                      The selectors deserve a pat on their back for dropping Harbhajan Singh, at last from the Indian squad that is to play the first two ODIs against England. It would not be out of place to mention that the decision came rather late as Harbhajan has not been performing to appreciable levels for almost a half decade now. Strangely enough, Harbhajan had full backing of the captains in this period of below-par performance. Harbhajan performs only when the opposition is under pressure, like when the opposition is batting on the fourth and fifth days of the test match, gazing at often huge targets set by the strong batting line up or for that matter when other bowlers especially Zaheer Khan gets early wicket or make crucial breakthroughs and put the opposition under pressure. In the recent times, we have seen even Ricky Ponting playing Harbhahan with such ease in test matches. In fact, Ricky Ponting has had better off Harbhajan in the 2003 World Cup Final when he hit him for huge sixes.

                   I do not see anything menacing in Harbhajan's bowling. Bishen Bedi was accurate when he called that Sehwag was the best spinner in the Indian team. Even Yuvraj may perform better if he bowls as many overs as Harbhajan does in test matches. It is no wonder that Yuvraj was the best Indian spinner in the World cup and the best Indian bowler after Zaheer Khan in the World Cup 2011.

                The new guy, whoever it may be, should be given a good stretch in the Indian team to prove his mettle and establish himself in the Indian team. I wonder why Murali Karthik does never get a look. I found him very competitive and skillful whenever I saw him playing. Indian selectors can also try the likes of Iqbal Abdullah. Ashwin has proved that he is better than Harbhajan at this time.