No break for Harbhajan

In the end,it was simply a case of logic and hard facts taking precedence over emotion.

For a start,the off spinners Test form had been on the wane for a while,as averages of 40.69 and 38.05 in his last two calendar years would suggest. And post his exclusion from the ODI and Test squads in favour of younger,fresher tweakers 8211; a move that may have only been exploratory at first 8211; there had been little sign of recovery in the lower-pressure environs of domestic cricket.

Since the England Test series where he picked up two wickets for 287 runs in two Tests Harbhajan has toiled through 75 overs in three Ranji Trophy matches and concede 204 runs for the meagre reward of two wickets.

It was merely confirmation that the Ranji Trophy isnt always a foolproof comeback trail for spinners. The competition is filled with old heads weaned on Test-class spin like Saurashtras Shitanshu Kotak who made an unbeaten 166 against Harbhajans Punjab and comeback-hungry youngsters like Suresh Raina 8211; who smashed Bhajji and Co. for an unbeaten 204 for Uttar Pradesh.

It didnt help that the wickets at Mohali didnt suit Harbhajan. At the PCA Stadium,we play on green tops, says Punjab coach Vikram Rathore. All three wickets we played on supported seam bowling,so its a little unfair to expect Harbhajan to pick up wickets.

Unfair it may have been,but the bare numbers simply read three matches,two wickets,204 runs. Concurrently,Ravichandran Ashwin,the off spinner who replaced him in the Test side,won two Man-of-the-Match awards in his first three Tests. Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha shared 42 wickets in those three Tests at a combined average of 22.71.

Poor form

There was little chance therefore that the selectors would drop either in favour of Harbhajan or take all three. The media voices on television in support of such a move were talking up the off spinners experience and ability to get under the skin of opponents rather than his bowling form. And even if they wanted to,they couldnt talk up his record in Australia nine wickets in four Tests at 73.22.

Eight of those wickets,at the cost of 61.25 runs each,came during the 2007-08 tour,where best mate and fellow offie Andrew Symonds took nine in 63 fewer overs. The famous Perth win was the only Test in the series that Harbhajan sat out. His biggest contribution may well have been the two fifties he scored down the order.

During their latest meeting,the selectors might not even have factored in Harbhajans batting prowess. After the Wankhede Test,India only seem to have replaced Harbhajans feisty slapdash at number eight with Ashwins level-headed,orthodox approach.

Kumble inspiration

What next for Harbhajan then? At 31,he isnt old for a spinner. Kumble took 343 wickets,well over half of his career haul of 619,after his 30 th birthday. He too went through a bit of a lull at the start if his 30s,the contributing factors including a shoulder injury,batsmen getting used to his methods,and the emergence of a young Harbhajan. Out of all this rose a slower,craftier Kumble who would go on for almost another decade.

Harbhajan too will need to evolve if he wants to re-entrench himself. But for this,he will first need to figure out why he hasnt been taking wickets as frequently as he used to.

Former left-arm spinner Maninder Singh says that Harbhajans poor returns in recent years is down to a combination of mental and technical factors that have fed into each other.

I think he was succumbing to the pressure of not performing to his potential, Maninder says. As a batsman,you are one of seven,and someone else usually makes up when you fail. For a bowler,especially someone of his stature,failure is more noticeable.

In trying to set right the situation,Maninder says,a couple of flaws crept into Harbhajans action. One is that big push he has at the start of his action,that eagle jump. There didnt seem to be as much power in that jump as before, he says. And his front arm was dropping quicker than it should.

In recent seasons,Indian bowlers have made eye-catching comebacks after time spent on the county circuit,Zaheer Khan and Pragyan Ojha being prominent examples. Could Harbhajan do the same?

All that match practice will definitely benefit him, says Maninder. But he has to iron out those technical flaws first,or theyll multiply further. He first needs to work with someone who understands his problems and bowl a lot in the nets.