Harbhajan rues lack of quality off-spinners in India

Senior off-spinner and Punjab captain Harbhajan Singh lamented serious dearth of quality tweakers in the domestic circuit.

"Well, I played a lot of domestic matches this season but frankly speaking I haven't seen any great talent emerging. There are not too many young bowlers who are ready to give it a tweak and could spin the ball on any surface," Harbhajan told reporters at the end of the Vijay Hazare Trophy match against Delhi at the Kotla.

Harbhajan is fine with spinners using variations but he would like every bowler to have a stock delivery.

"Whether you hold the ball cross-seam or seam-up, you have to bowl off-spinners. That's your job. Each bowler needs to possess a stock delivery. Kapil Dev in earlier days or Dale Steyn now have an outswinger which is their stock ball. Similarly for an off-spinner, it's their off-break," Harbhajan said.

The veteran of 101 Tests didn't wish to be drawn into any controversy regarding Ravichandran Ashwin's loss of form or his sudden change in bowling action.

"I wouldn't like to make any comments about a current India player. Also I haven't seen the recent matches to know what he is bowling. But I will always wish Ashwin luck as he is a talented bowler. He would surely be back among wickets," Harbhajan said.

Asked about Parveez Rasool, who was a part of the Rest of India squad, Harbhajan feels that he is still very much a work in progress.

"Rasool is a talented boy. He is already captaining his state side. He is a good batsman also. As far as his bowling is concerned, for getting to the next level, he needs to work harder," Harbhajan said.

Harbhajan cited Yuvraj Singh's presence in the Punjab side that changed the look of their batting.

"Yuvraj's presence always helps. Today he changed the course of the match. The conditions were difficult for batting as due to overcast nature. The ball swung all day. But during the later part it eased out a bit. The ball was also coming to the bat slowly," Harbhajan said.

Asked about his own bowling performance (2/54 in 12 overs), Harbhajan said, "It's okay but I would have preferred a wicket more and 10 runs less."

On another stint in the English county, Harbhajan replied, "Let's finish the IPL first and then I will decide whether I would like to play in county or not."