Harbhajan Singh mocks Ashwin's success: âAlas, had we bowled on such wicketsâ
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Harbhajan Singh believes that Ashwin gets a âlot of favourâ from the pitch curators, something which he did not receive in his prime. The Turbanator also stressed on the importance of maintaining the balance between the bat and the ball, and said that conditions should never be the deciding factor.
A couple of weeks back, Harbhajan Singh said that Virat Kohli and Anil Kumble have a chance to change the face of Indian cricket by avoiding the ârank turnersâ tactics in home games. Harbhajan feels that this will go on to help the Indian batsmen and the pacers to prosper in home conditions too.
Responding to Harbhajan's comments, Ravichandran Ashwin had said, after the first match, that it is not Kohli or Kumble's job to prepare wickets and questioned why India cannot take advantage of their home conditions when every other team does so.
"Honestly, I have no idea how my statement is going to be presented by the media. However, one thing which I can say is that we have no time to read all these comments. We don't decide the nature of the wickets. Neither Kohli nor Kumble rolls or waters the track. It's unfortunate that people don't understand this. We should be allowed to enjoy our brand of cricket. Nobody is bothered when England wins a Test in two days. So what's the problem if the same happens in India?" Ashwin was quoted as saying by Bengali Ananda Bazar Patrika.
The newspaper contacted Harbhajan Singh to react on Ashwin's comments, and the 36-year-old has regretted the lack of such 'favours' from the pitch curators during his days. He said, "I think he (Ashwin) should enjoy his success. Alas, had we bowled on such wickets... I will still stick to my point.
What we used to get, can be termed as 'little favour' and what happens now is 'lot of favour'. There's hell and heaven of a difference between the two. There should be a balance between bat and ball. Neither the batsman nor the bowler should get extra advantage.
Harbhajan
"Skill should be the deciding factor and not the conditions. Once the conditions start playing a bigger role, skill falls behind,â he added.
Ashwin became the second fastest bowler to pick up 200 Test wickets behind Clarrie Grimmett following his 10-wicket haul in the first Test against New Zealand at Kanpur. However, a majority of those wickets have arrived at home, where wickets have stirred up a lot of controversies in recent times. The pitches were under the scanner during India's triumph over South Africa in their last home series as well.
