Harbhajan Singh Gets Yet Another Lifeline on International Stage

Harbhajan Singh has 417 Test wickets and 263 ODI victims to his name. The 35-year-old is also India's third-most successful Test bowler, after Anil Kumble and Kapil Dev. In ODIs, he is among the top-five wicket-takers from India. So far, so good, as the Punjab off-spinner's records prove his credentials. (Harbhajan picked for T20I series against South Africa)

But is this Harbhajan Singh, who was picked for the South Africa T20I series on Sunday, the same bowler who holds such enviable records? His performance over the last three years says otherwise. (Dhoni comes under scanner)

Firstly, after 2013 Harbhajan Singh had to wait for two long years to return to the national fold. His form was already on the wane by 2013 as he failed to be a regular member of the Indian team in the England and Australia series. (Proteas bowlers prepares for India)

With the emergence of young spinners like Ravichandran Ashwin, Amit Mishra, Pragyan Ojha and Axar Patel, the challenge was becoming all the more tough for the once spin spearhead of India. A bowler who was looked up as the able successor to Anil Kumble slowly went out of public memory. (Harbhajan to marry Geeta Basra in October)

Age was also not on his side too, but Harbhajan resorted to the young men's format -- the Twenty20 -- to grab the selector's attention. In the 2015 Indian Premier League (IPL), he took 18 wickets in 15 matches to be sixth highest wicket-taker. The performance was enough to impress the selectors and he got a look-in for the one-off Test against Bangladesh in June.

Harbhajan was not at all impressive as he could manage just three wickets in the drawn match. Then came the tour of Zimbabwe, where he was nowhere close to his old self. He picked four wickets in three ODIs and two wickets in the T20I series against a weak opponent. However, his spin partner Axar Patel caught everyone's attention with a good showing.

The BCCI selection committee, however, kept trusting him and selected him for the Sri Lanka Test series last month. He was rusty in the Galle Test, which India lost and could pick only one wicket. He was dropped from the other two matches.

On Sunday, Harbhajan received another life-line. Selectors retained him in Indian squad for the South African series but only for the three-match T20I series. As far as the ODI series was concerned, the selectors clearly showed their preference as they chose Ashwin. Amit Mishra and Axar Patel.

This, however, can be a blessing in disguise for Harbhajan. With the WorldT20 scheduled to be held in India next year, this is a golden opportunity for him. He has only one format to concentrate upon and make the cut for the showpiece event. His IPL record shows that he has it in him to extract the best out of the Indian spin-friendly pitches, and the selectors have no doubt kept this in their mind while selecting him for the T20I squad.

The aim for the selectors is to have as much options as possible for the WorldT20. But all lies in the hands of Harbhajan, if he wants to flourish for one final time on the world stage. His performances in Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka are not good indications, but playing at home will help him a great deal. Now, it's Harbhajan's call to lose out on the opportunity or come up trumps in the contest.