da bet7： Erapalli Prasanna, in his analysis of the third Test at Barbados,mentioned that Harbhajan Singh needed to attack the batsmen much more
Staff Reporter07-May-2002Erapalli Prasanna, in his analysis of the third Test at Barbados,mentioned that Harbhajan Singh needed to attack the batsmen much more.A fine exponent of the off-spin art himself, Prasanna averred thatHarbhajan, as a wicket-taking bowler, should be plotting the batsman’sdownfall with every ball.
Harbhajan Singh against all batsmen – West Indies first innings at Barbados
© CricInfoA look at Harbhajan’s bowling in the West Indian first inningsconfirms this view. He returned figures of 34.5-7-87-3, so his fansmay argue that he wasn’t completely ineffective. But his first wicketwas that of Carl Hooper after the West Indian skipper had plundered115 runs off the Indian attack, and his other two were of PedroCollins and Adam Sanford, two minions in a woefully weak West Indiantail.Harbhajan’s wagon-wheel against all batsmen in the West Indian firstinnings is telling. Only 20 runs were scored off him in front ofsquare, whereas 23 runs went to the point region and 32 to square leg- an indication that Harbhajan was bowling much too short.A large percentage of an off-spinner’s wickets come from making thebatsman drive against the turn, and although Harbhajan did make thebatsmen play to cover to the tune of 15 runs, that was not nearlyenough. His dropping short made it particularly easy for the batsmanto comfortably turn him behind square for runs; Hooper took 15 runsoff him in this manner.As the sole attacking spinner in the side, Harbhajan shouldundoubtedly follow Prasanna’s advice. He can definitely do so byflighting the ball more and keeping the ball up to the batsman.Knowing that most of the West Indians are not too proficient at playingspin, this tactic may help Harbhajan get back to his old ways ofbamboozling the batsmen.