'He doesn’t even spin the ball' - Harbhajan Singh unimpressed with Washington Sundar getting chances in the Indian team

Veteran spinner Harbhajan Singh has lashed out at the national selection panel for picking Washington Sundar over traditional spinners like Jalaj Saxena and Akshay Wakhare. After impressing in the IPL in his maiden season in 2017, Washington made his debut for India in the same year and has been a regular feature in India’s T20I since then.

Known for his ability to bowl in powerplays, Washington has so far played 23 T20Is for India. In those 23 games, he has picked up 19 wickets and has an economy rate of less than 7. But despite those performances, Harbhajan is not too impressed with the selection. The India legend was critical of the selectors for picking ‘a guy who does not spin the ball’.

Harbhajan praised the performance of Saxena and Wakhare in the domestic circuit before ruing the lack of support for the two. He blamed the selectors for India’s recent struggles in the spin department. Harbhajan also pointed out that Jalaj could also bat just like Washington.

“There is a spinner named Jalaj Saxena (347 FC wickets and 6334 FC runs). They just refuse to consider him. He has been bowling superbly for so many seasons. Wakhare (279 wickets in 83 FC games) is a consistent bowler but no one looks at him. And then you say, spinners are getting lost in Indian cricket. He must have done something good for Vidarbha to have won the Ranji Trophy twice,” said Harbhajan as quoted by Sportstar.

Harbhajan Singh throws support behind spinners

“They pick this guy called Washington Sundar, who doesn’t even spin the ball. I just don’t get it. Why don’t you encourage a bowler who bowls genuine spin, who can lure the batsman out and have him stumped. If Washington can bat a bit, so can Jalaj, who is also a proper spinner,” he added.

Harbhajan Singh further asked the reason behind the selectors’ decision to not back the likes of Saxena, Wakhare as well as Shahbaz Nadeem who made his Test debut last year but was dropped soon after that game.

“You have to develop these bowlers by giving them confidence. I want to know what wrong has Saxena done? Has he, Wakhare or Shahbaz Nadeem committed a crime by taking wickets?” said Harbhajan.