India's Tour of Sri Lanka -- Time for Harbhajan Singh to Script a 'Doosra' Innings
The team for the India's tour to Sri Lanka will be selected on the July 23. The conditions in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are quite similar, hence the Virat Kohli-led Indian Test squad shouldn't have too many surprises with all the senior members returning after a well-earned downtime.
The Bangladesh 'grudge' series is over, so is the not-so-important Zimbabwe series -- time has come for the Indian cricket team to pad up for a fresh season of Test cricket against more staunch rivals.
India take on their neighbours Sri Lanka in a three-match Test series from August 12. The Tests will be played in Galle (August 12-16), Colombo's P.Sara Oval (August 20-24) and the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo (August 28 - September 1). (Dravid Backs Struggling Pujara to Find Form)
The team for the tour will be selected on July 23. The conditions in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are quite similar, hence the Virat Kohli-led Indian Test squad shouldn't have too many surprises with all the senior members returning after a well-earned downtime. (Crowd Violence Holds up Sri Lanka-Pakistan ODI)
Knowing Kohli's inclination towards the 'fast' men, Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron -- if fit -- would be certainties along with Ishant Sharma and the medium pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar. But will the selectors stick with the off-spining duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Harbhajan Singh? (Varun Aaron Ruled Out of 1st 'A' Test vs Australia)
Ashwin has cemented his place as India's prime spinner but Harbhajan is on a comeback trail. (ICC Test Rankings)
Before his comeback in Bangladesh, India played 88 matches without the 'Turbanator'. The Jalandhar-born offie suffered a grade-one tear in the abdominal muscle during India's 2011 England series and his injury gave Ashwin a chance to seal his place in the side. The man with 400-plus Test wickets has no qualms about admitting Ashwin's supremacy.
"By the time my injury was healed Ashwin had come into the team and did really well in that season", said Harbhajan in an interview to BCCI.tv, "He understands the game very well. I am really happy he has done well for India and hope he continues doing so."
Harbhajan also admits that it was Ashwin's good form that delayed his comeback to the Test outfit. "The whole process of making a comeback becomes all the more difficult when the person replacing you is doing a good job," he said.
The comeback would have been even more difficult for Harbhajan had Ravindra Jadeja not lost his venom after his shoulder surgery or had Pragyan Ojha not got hauled up for his 'dicey' action.
Since the retirement of MS Dhoni, India have turned a page in their Test match philosophy. The new captain wants to win every game, prefers five bowlers and opts for men who can pick him 20 wickets. Harbhajan, with 416 wickets in 102 Tests, fits into Kohli's scheme perfectly. Not only does Kohli want the 35-year-old offie to get back to being a lethal wicket-taker, but also wants him to mentor the rest of the cast.
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Harbhajan himself is upbeat to be a part of this 'young' Team India.
"When I walked into the dressing room (in Bangladesh) and looked around, there were all new faces", says Harbhajan, "My team-mates were all the young guys who have seen me bowl for years. They all got behind me, cheering me on and making a lot of noise for every good ball I bowled. They made me very comfortable and I really enjoyed the whole experience."
Harbhajan went onto to claim three wickets in the Test against Bangladesh and seems to have worked on his technique apart from his fitness -- the body has a leaner frame, the run-up has more purpose to it and he is now bowling much slower through the air.
Playing two offies in a Test XI is not a very common trend but against Sri Lanka it might be a masterstroke because the Lankan top-order consists of four left-handers in Dimuth Karunaratne, Lahiru Thirimanne, Upul Tharanga and Kumar Sangakkara.
The man who replaced Sangakkara in the last Test against Pakistan, Jehan Mubarak, is also a left-hander. Hence, the ball turning away on slow and low tracks might just hand India the edge over the islanders.
India, right now, has a drought of quality spinners. The experienced ones in Amit Mishra have struggled at the international level while the newbies in Karn Sharma and Kuldeep Yadav have a long way to go before staking their claims. With Jadeja out of form and Ojha rebooting his career, this might be a golden opportunity for the 'Turbanator' to script a 'doosra' innings!