Kumble and Kohli do not have a say in the conditions: Harbhajan Singh

Harbhajan Singh may not be a part of the Indian squad at the moment, but, that does not mean that he is completely detached from the Indian team completely. The 36-year old has come out in defense of the haters of Ravichandran Ashwin and Anil Kumble who claim that Ashwin picks wickets only in Indian conditions.

While this holds to be true for the most part, it is rather sweeping and harsh when one comments on Ashwin in that respect. However, Harbhajan, who was a very successful bowler in his time went on to lash out at those who said that the Indian captain and the coach have a say in the conditions. Answering, in a diplomatic manner, ‘Bhajji’ added that Kumble and Kohli are not the ones who water and roll the pitches.

“Honestly, I have no idea how my statement is going to be presented by the media. However, one thing which I can say is that we have no time to read all these comments. We don’t decide the nature of the wickets. Neither Kohli nor Kumble rolls or waters the track.

“It’s unfortunate that people don’t understand this. We should be allowed to enjoy our brand of cricket. Nobody is bothered when England wins a Test in two days. So what’s the problem if the same happens in India?” Ashwin was quoted as saying by Bengali Ananda Bazar Patrika.

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Harbhajan, who picked India’s first ever Test match hat-trick in 2001 went on to add that skill should be a deciding factor ahead of conditions. He said, “I think he (Ashwin) should enjoy his success. Alas, had we bowled on such wickets… I will still stick to my point.

“Skill should be the deciding factor and not the conditions. Once the conditions start playing a bigger role, skill falls behind,” he added.

What we used to get, can be termed as ‘little favour’ and what happens now is ‘lot of favour’. There are hell and heaven of a difference between the two. There should be a balance between bat and ball. Neither the batsman nor the bowler should get an extra advantage.

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