Why England Test series is final lifeline for Harbhajan

Given a double hundred in the Duleep Trophy and a half-century and five wickets for India A against England, we pretty much expected Yuvraj Singh to be picked in the Test squad. Murali Vijay has also been in good nick and Ajinkya Rahane certainly deserves a place.

But, Harbhajan Singh? That was a surprise.

Bhajji, who hasn’t played a single Test since the mauling India received from England last July, has done nothing exceptional in his time out to convince the selectors to pick him. But he still got the nod as India’s third specialist spinner.

“The selectors have thrown Harbhajan a lifeline and if he doesn’t perform, he might be pushed beyond a later selection. Even though he is still relatively young for a spinner, being out of the team for a long time means others are pushing for your place. Harbhajan’s selection is a surprise and in a way, defensive,” cricket expert Ayaz Memon told Firstpost.

He also thinks that the selection committee have played safe for a series which is also very crucial for MS Dhoni: “The selectors have gone back to a tried and tested set of performers to see this series out. This is also a crucial series for MS Dhoni. He is vulnerable and had been under a lot of flak. If the team doesn’t do well against England, there are questions going to be raised about Dhoni himself.”

Harbhajan’s last Test came against England on 29 July 2011. His last four innings figures against them were 0/152, 1/66, 1/22 and 0/47. His last ODI series, against West Indies, fetched him just four wickets in three matches where he gave away a total of 107 runs.

A couple of games in the recently concluded World T20 saw him get figures of 4/12 against England and 0/20 against Australia. He didn’t have a great time with Mumbai Indians at the Champions League Twenty20 either. In five matches, he took just two wickets and gave away 91 runs.

But Test matches are a whole different ball game. While it won’t be fair to judge his Test credentials with T20 performances, his selection will give out a mixed message.

“To England, their message is that India’s got back their most experienced spinners in the team, so they better beware. They’ve thrown the gauntlet not only at the English batsmen but also to Harbhajan— first he has to get into the first XI. He cannot take his place in the team for granted. The message to the young spinners is disappointing… but when you actually look around, there aren’t too many young spinners you can count on. Piyush Chawla is injured and Amit Mishra seems to have faded away,” said Ayaz.

While the form of Harbhajan is surely questionable, Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag have also been under the scanner lately. Just purely looking at their recent Test scores takes away from the fact that they are India’s best opening order.

Both batsmen average around 28.00 in nine Test innings in 2012. From an opening pair who are the only Indians to aggregate more than 4000 partnership runs in Tests, it’s a terrible slump in form. In the Ranji match against UP, Gambhir scored 32 and 47 and Sehwag managed 25 and 107— a century that will go a long way in restoring some confidence.

But Ayaz believes that bringing in Murali Vijay and Ajinkya Rahane in the team will keep the two seniors on their toes.

“Even though Sehwag and Gambhir are two top quality batsmen not easy to drop, choosing Vijay and Rahane tells the openers that you better get going because we have another pair to step in. They have two Test matches to prove themselves.”

While 15 players made the cut for the first two Tests, there were some who will feel hard done by being left out. Ayaz particularly feels sorry for Manoj Tiwary: “He’s done almost everything a batsman should be doing to get into the team and I suspect he might end up being another S Badrinath if he’s denied a place.”

While Tiwary is certainly someone who will be disappointed with being left out, exclusions of Ashok Dinda, Irfan Pathan and Shikhar Dhawan will also be a morale-buster for the players.

Check out the video for the full conversation between Pulasta Dhar and Ayaz Memon.