Harbhajan Singh’s Test return looks bleak

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A stalwart of the team that soared to number one in the rankings, off-spinner Harbhajan Singh’s chances of a return to the Test team are looking remote with Ravichandran Ashwin’s emergence as India’s new slow-bowling spearhead.

The 32-year-old Harbhajan, who has taken more than 400 test wickets, struggled during India’s dismal tour of England last year in which he claimed two wickets in the first two Tests before an abdominal strain cut short his trip. The team was whitewashed 4-0 in the test series and went on to lose their number one ranking without winning a single match on the tour.

With Harbhajan unavailable, India selectors turned to Ashwin and the 25-year-old spinner has not let them down. The Tamil Nadu spinner has made full use of his chance to shine on the big stage and racked up 34 wickets in four Tests on home soil.

He picked up the man-of-the-series award in his debut series against West Indies and took a career-best 12 wickets against New Zealand in Hyderabad to help guide India victory by an innings and 115 runs in the opening test on Sunday.

With England and Australia each scheduled to play a four-match series in India later this season, the hosts have an ideal opportunity to make up for their eight consecutive away test defeats to the same opponents last year. In Ashwin, India have found a potent weapon to torment the visitors on the slow pitches at home as New Zealand captain Ross Taylor was quick to point out.

“We need to learn how to play Ashwin and... play him a lot better,” Taylor said after the heavy defeat in the opener of the two-match series.

Ashwin has forged a strong partnership with left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha, the duo sharing 60 wickets in the four Tests they have played together. They may still be a long way from becoming a strike force similar to the one formed by leg-spinner Anil Kumble and Harbhajan, but all the early signs are encouraging.

Ashwin may lack the variation of Harbhajan but he does possess excellent control over his line and length, and bowls very few loose deliveries. India captain MS Dhoni praised his spin twins for their ability to maintain pressure on opposing batsmen. “I think the bowlers bowled brilliantly. They didn’t give any loose deliveries to score runs which meant even if the opposition batted for one or two hours, the score was not picking a lot,” said Dhoni.

Ashwin has the advantage of height, which he uses well to extract bounce off the wicket, and his ‘carrom ball’ is also very effective on turning wickets. He is also a useful batsman lower down the order, already boasting a Test hundred and a batting average of more than 35, which makes Harbhajan’s comeback even more unlikely.

Ashwin vaults to career best ranking

R. Ashwin’s match haul of 12 for 85 against New Zealand in the first Test has helped him vault 19 places to a career-best 25th position in the latest Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers, which were released on Monday.

His overall rating of 542 is also a career-best for Ashwin. The 25-year-old backed up his bowling performance with a handy knock of 37 in India’s total of 438.

The show with the bat has helped Ashwin move up by three places to 78th in the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen, while the combined performance with the bat and the ball has given him a career-high 12th position (up by 14 places) in the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test all-rounders.

Ojha jumps 15 spots in latest ICC Test rankings

Left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha, who ended with a match haul of six for 92 in the first Test, has jumped six places to 15th spot in the latest ICC Test rankings. This is the career best ranking enjoyed by Ojha, his overall rating of 624 is also his best-ever rating.

Zaheer Khan, who remained wicketless in the match, has dropped two places to 14th while his pace partner Umesh Yadav has moved up two places to 47th. Meanwhile, the only centurion in the Hyderabad Test, Cheteshwar Pujara, has re-entered the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen in 58th position.

The India batsmen to make upward movements are MS Dhoni in 40th (up by three) and Virat Kohli, who is in now in 49th spot (up by two).