Former Indian cricketer Saba Karim has cast his vote in favour of the spin bowling duo of Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh when compared to the current spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. Indian cricket has always been rich in spin-bowling resources and Ashwin and Jadeja are leading the current generation in Test cricket with distinction. Both the spinners are also tremendous performers with the bat.
However, Saba Karim prefers the duo of Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh instead. During a discussion on India News, he said, “My vote will still go to the pairing of Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh. I feel that era was more challenging. In today’s era, I believe the cricket is evolving but the standard of batting has fallen against spin.”
Saba Karim also mentioned that both Kumble and Harbhajan had to outfox better players of spin during their generation. “That era [Kumble and Harbhajan’s] where the spin bowlers performed well was one where the quality of batsmanship was amazing in front of them. There were fantastic batters, who used to bat exceptionally against the spinners,” he added.
The former Indian wicketkeeper noted that almost all countries had prolific players of spin during the times of Kumble and Harbhajan. “There were a number of foreign players who batted exceedingly well against top-quality spinners. There were many players from Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Australia, West Indies players like Brian Lara and Shivnarine Chanderpaul. There were quite a few players from England as well who played the spinners well.”
Kumble and Harbhajan played 54 Tests together and have picked up 501 wickets together. Team India won 21 of those matches and drew another 21 while 12 matches have ended in defeat.
Saba Karim also highlighted the fact that Kumble and Harbhajan led the side during a period of transition. “In that era, the Indian team was growing. India’s attempt was to win matches in home conditions as well as in alien conditions, especially in SENA countries and it was an era where India’s domination kept on increasing because of Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh only,” the former chairman of selectors further added.
