Nehra and Harbhajan: Tale of two veterans

They have been out of favour for quite some time as far as selection in the national team is concerned but Harbhajan Singh's reason is entirely different from Ashish Nehra's.

31-year-old Harbhajan still has a good chance of making a comeback to the national squad in the near future but time is certainly running out for soon-to-be 33, Nehra, who was seen slogging it out for Delhi during the North Zone leg match of Vijay Hazare trophy as was Harbhajan for Punjab.

Neither of the two players set the stage on fire but they didn't perform badly either. While Harbhajan had figures of 10-0-38-0 to show for his efforts, Nehra bowled in two spells with his figures reading 8-0-37-1.

But if one analyses their bowling, Nehra did make more impact for Delhi than Harbhajan did for Punjab although he was their best bowler.

Harbhajan, a veteran of 98 Tests and 229 ODIs was seen trying to restrict the opposition from scoring rather than trying to capture wickets.

Call it the T20 effect but rarely did he try to flight the ball during his first spell of seven overs that cost 22 runs. His main aim seemed to not let Delhi batsmen like Mithun Manhas, Punit Bisht and Rajat Bhatia give him the charge.

"I felt he did bowl a little flat but again we were not able to hit him and had to score off other bowlers," Bisht, who scored 73, said after the match.

Nehra, on the other hand, bowled at a brisk pace and Punjab batsmen really found it difficult to hit him during the Powerplay. He beat the bat a couple of times, bowled well disguised bouncers and one such short ball hurried on to Mandeep Singh who lobbed a simple catch to short cover.

Even when he came for his second spell, he worked up a lively pace and showed a lot of control.

His new-ball partner Parvinder Awana who has been Delhi's highest wicket-taker said, "Ashish bhai's presence always helps. There are times when he creates a lot of pressure at one end and my job becomes easier. He would stand at mid-on or mid-off when I am bowling and constantly encourage me and help me plot a batsman's dismissal."