Is This The End of The Road for Turbonator??

Harbhajan Singh, THE TURBONATOR as called by his fellow teammates, was almost irreplaceable till few months back, since 2000 this was the first time when team India was on the field for a test match without “JUMBO “ and the “TURBONATOR”.

There was little doubt after Anil Kumble’s retirement in 2008 as to who will blow the trumpet of India’s spin prowess, with Harbhajan Singh’s wickets’ reserve resembling a healthy green belt. But little did India know three years later, it will play a Test with an untested spin battery while Harbhajan will be searching his long lost form in Ranji Trophy.

For almost a decade – from 1998 to 2008 – the Jumbo-Bhajji duo tied batsmen into knots that became part of a study. If one withered for a while, the other made sure the loop didn’t disappear totally.

Though his wickets tally since Kumble’s retirement leaves much to be desired, India’s success rate at home doesn’t suggest the same. Of the 13 home Tests in which Harbhajan played after Kumble quit, India won eight, lost one and drew four.

However, these figures suggest the pivotal role Harbhajan has played in home series, it would be wrong to conclude that selectors have erred by dropping him. Against a harmless West Indies team, even Ashwin, Sharma and Pragyan Ojha will be a handful. At the same time, it allows Harbhajan to iron out his flaws against better batsmen of spin in the domestic circuit. So it will be to India’s good that Harbhajan earns his return back to the Test folds rather than mincing spin-wary Caribbean batsmen.


Harbhajan, till recently a regular player in the national cricket team, appears destined to remain in the cold with debutant R Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha doing exceedingly well in the opening cricket Test against the West Indies. Man-of-the-Match Ashwin took nine wickets in the game and Ojha claimed seven wickets to bowl India to an excellent five-wicket win at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium in Delhi.

Harbhajan, with over 400 Test wickets, was left out of the team for the first Test due to indifferent performances in recent months. The team for the second Test starting in Kolkata on November 14 is yet to be announced but the veteran offie is unlikely to figure in it.

Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, a known supporter of Harbhajan, indicated as much in the post-match press conference in Delhi. “Let’s see. Ojha did well and Ashwin won man of the match in his debut match,” Dhoni said on the chances of Harbhajan coming back into the team.



Harbhajan is playing Ranji for Punjab, can he web some magic with his off-spin and “DOOSRA” to make a strong statement to the selectors is remaining to be seen.