'He could have easily taken 700 Test wickets' - Saqlain Mushtaq heaps praise on Harbhajan Singh

Harbhajan Singh is one of the best spinners who has come out of India. The veteran has played 103 Tests and picked up 413 wickets. However, since 2012, the off-spinner has not featured regularly for the India Test side. In fact, he played 98 Tests before getting dropped in 2011. Recently, former Saqlain Mushtaq revealed that he believed that Harbhajan could have taken 700 Test wickets.

Saqlain Mushtaq said that he was surprised when a great bowler like Harbhajan Singh was dropped from the Indian team. He also noted that Ravichandran Ashwin and Harbhajan have very different styles of bowling and could have played together. He also questioned that if two right-arm pacers can play together in an eleven, why can’t two right-arm spinners play. Mushtaq further said that Harbhajan had the class to take at least 700 Test wickets.

‘I was surprised when Bhajji was dropped’: Saqlain Mushtaq

“In fact, I was surprised when a great like Bhajji was dropped. Both Ashwin and Bhajji have different styles and could have easily played together in the playing eleven. If two right-hand pacers can play regularly, why not spinners? Such was Bhajji’s class that he could have easily taken 700 Test wickets,” said Mushtaq according to the report by Times Now.

After the 2011 World Cup, there was a shift in the way India went about the spin option in the Test side. Harbhajan was dropped from the Test side as Ashwin was bowling really well. The Punjab off-spinner played only five Tests since 2012 and never had a consistent run in the Indian team.

Saqlain further opined on India’s current bunch of spinners such as Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav. He predicted that both Jadeja and Ashwin might end up playing 100 Tests.

“The spinners you (India) have been pretty good actually. Kuldeep (Yadav) has been impressive, Ashwin and (Ravindra) Jadeja have been doing well consistently. They are world-class bowlers. I am pretty confident that Ashwin and Jadeja will end up playing 100 Tests each,” said Saqlain Mushtaq.

Ashwin has picked up 365 wickets in 71 Test matches while Jadeja has played 49 Tests picking up 213 wickets. Both the players have age on their side and can actually play beyond 100 Tests.