India veteran Harbhajan Singh was overcome by a sense of deja vu while watching Kuldeep Yadav’s hat-trick against Australia in the second One-day International against Australia. After all, he had taken a hat-trick on the same ground against the same opposition to cement his place in the Indian team back in the epic Kolkata Test of 2001.
“Wahi opposition, wahi lamha, wahi ground aur ek spinner jiska age bhi utna (The same opposition, same ground, another spinner around the same age). Somehow as I was watching Kuldeep bowl, my mind travelled back to that afternoon [2001 March] at the Eden Gardens. It is a great achievement,” Harbhajan said recalling his own hat-trick against Australia as a 21-year-old in a Test that ranks amongst the finest wins in Indian cricket.
“For a young spinner, when you get a hat-trick early in your career, your confidence shoots up to a different level. This is a milestone which each and every cricketer savours for the rest of his life. Eden Gardens never lets anyone return empty-handed. And this achievement will forever be etched in the history books,” the 37-year-old said.
Wrist spinners don’t depend on conditions
The owner of 711 international wickets felt that the recent performances opined that team management have their task cut out trying to reintegrate the experienced duo, Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal, “It’s always a difficult thing. If your current two spinners are doing well, then it becomes difficult for the senior spinners to make a comeback. For Jaddu and Ashwin, it will be an onerous task to make a comeback in the ODI side,” Harbhajan said.
He added, “At the moment, these two boys [Kuldeep and Chahal] are really doing well and I don’t see them being replaced by Ashwin and Jaddu [Jadeja]. You can’t predict what’s in store for the future,” he said.
India’s third-highest wicket-taker explained that wrist-spinners have the knack of inflicting damage across conditions, “Wrist spinners have certain advantages which is not condition dependent. Chahal has a good googly and can get his leg breaks to turn sharply. Similarly, Kuldeep can also get it to turn both ways. His wrong ‘un is very effective. They have that x-factor required at the highest level,”
He also observed that when the duo’s variation of pace through the air also makes it difficult for opposition batsmen to read them, “Both also bowl at different pace through the air. Kuldeep is a bit slower through the air while Chahal has a lower trajectory with slightly more pace on his deliveries. They complement each other well. They have maturity beyond years and I am impressed with their ability to read the situations.”
However, Harbhajan was in no mood to make predictions for the 2019 World Cup, “See, I don’t know about the World Cup. World Cup is quite far away to be very honest but they are doing really well and I am really proud of them. Let’s all wait and watch, how far these guys can go and continue doing well for India. I wish them all the luck and hope both grow from strength to strength,” he said.