IND vs BAN | Wrist spinners difficult to read than finger spinners, proclaims Harbhajan Singh
Harbhajan Singh is of the opinion that due to black stitches on pink ball’s seam, it is difficult for batsmen to pick wrist spinners from their hands. The former India offie has also reminded Kuldeep Yadav’s success in the Pink Ball Duleep Trophy match where batsmen were left clueless against him.
Sourav Ganguly's sudden accentuation to the post of BCCI president was the last nail in the coffin as far as BCCI’s opposition to pink ball goes. However, the discussion surrounding the change in colour would also mean a certain shift in India’s approach - that it would take spinners out of the equation while trying to keep the visibility factor intact - but many spinners indicate that it would skid off the surface giving a slight advantage to the spinners.
The defence argument made around the statement has been based on Kuldeep Yadav’s performance in the last pink ball Duleep Trophy match in 2016-17 in Kanpur where he had ended up taking 11 wickets. Harbhajan cited the instance to make a case for the inclusion of a wrist-spinner than having two finger spinners.
"Wrist spinners will have one advantage if you see because it's going to be very difficult to pick the seam (with black stitches) of the pink ball. If you remember Duleep Trophy, no one could effectively read Kuldeep from his wrists. Leg spinners got a lot of wickets during that edition," Harbhajan told PTI.Â
"When a finger spinner bowls, the ball is released with a seam so that there is turn and bounce. When you are bowling the googly, the seam will be scrambled and very difficult to pick," he explained.
On being asked about if he favours Kuldeep’s inclusion in the team for the second Test, Harbhajan deflected from it but added that pacers have been historically dominant in the afternoon. It was particularly right considering India always try to play a defensive brand of cricket in any Test in Kolkata or Ranchi - the eastern side of the country - because dew’s impact is heavier in the late afternoon.Â
"Well, that's the team management's call and I can't comment. But then Bangladesh need to play the Indian pacers on the seamer-friendly track before spinners are fully operational," the Punjab off-spinner added.