India's captain also said off-spinner Ramesh Powar is competing for a spot with one of the pace bowlers.
Former Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq believes his country will find it difficult to edge past India when the two sides clash in next month's T20 World Cup as there seems to be a "mental block" when it comes to playing the arch-rivals in ICC events.
Practitioners of the same art do have fellow feelings and no wonder pioneer of 'doosra' Saqlain Mushtaq feels sad about the manner in which the senior India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has been sidelined by the team management. While he terms Ravichandran Ashwin as a "world class bowler", he feels that Harbhajan not getting a single start during the last seven T20 internationals is "not doing the bowler's confidence any good". "I am afraid that Indian cricket board and team management's treatment to Harbhajan has not been great. He was a world class bowler and is still a world class bowler. The emergence of Ashwin doesn't mean that you drop Harbhajan or put him under tremendous pressure," Saqlain told PTI during an interaction. The 39-year-old Saqlain, who has 208 Test and 288 ODI wickets, said dropping a top grade performer according to convenience is not the best example to set. "Look from the time he got dropped (in 2011), he has made three comebacks which meant that when you needed him, you picked him and when the need
Fresh from leading Punjab to the runners up finish in the Vijay Hazare One-Day tournament, out-of-favour Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh is happy with his own showing in the domestic circuit and is keen to make a comeback into the Indian team for the 50-overs World Cup next year.
Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has hit back at John Buchanan for taking a swipe at some of the Indian cricketing greats, saying he was habituated to being criticised by Australians but surprised at the pot shots on the likes Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar.
Former India captain Sourav Ganguly has hailed Harbhajan Singh's comeback to the ODI team and said it's a good opportunity for the veteran off-spinner to make a mark following his return to the 50-over format side after a gap of four years.
Ashwin's age is certainly a factor that is being kept in consideration.
Indian batsman Suresh Raina and his wife Priyanka Raina on Monday were blessed with a baby boy. The official handle of CSK also tweeted about the news and wrote, " Kutti Thala is here! Lots of #Yellove and #WhistlePodu to@_PriyankaCRaina and @ImRaina for the newest addition to the #superfamily. "
India has named a preliminary squad for the Twenty20 World Cup in England in June, pencilling in all but four players from the side that won the inaugural edition two years ago.
India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh pays tribute to team-mate Virender Sehwag on the occasion of his 100th Test.
India cricketer Harbhajan Singh, who was stranded in Joshimath due to incessant rains while on a pilgrimage, was rescued and taken to safety by the Indian Air Force.
Harbhajan Singh said it was a barrage of vulgar personal remarks from the Australian fielders that provoked him to a verbal duel.
Indian opener Gautam Gambhir continued to top the rankings chart among Test batsmen despite a poor show in the first Test against South Africa, while off-spinner Harbhajan Singh dropped out of top 10 among bowlers in the ICC list released on Wednesday.
Team sources said a decision whether to play the ace off-spinner in the third Test will be taken on Tuesday morning.
The pacer was rewarded for his impressive return to international cricket with a berth in India's T20, and One-day squads for the series against Sri Lanka, beginning December 9.
"He's one of the most well-respected people in our team, so that's all that interests me," the Australian wicketkeeper said.
The start of the first Test between India and Bangladesh at the Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury stadium, in Chittagong, has been delayed due to fog and dew. Umpires Billy Bowden and Marais Erasmus will carry out an inspection at 0900 IST to decide when the toss will be held.
The off-spinner was alleged to have made monkey gestures towards the crowd during India's victory in the first tri-series final.
The Indian off-spinner claimed three wickets for one run off 24 balls against Yorkshire.
Controversies and Harbhajan Singh seem to travel together and the off-spinner was on Tuesday challaned by the Chandigarh Traffic Police for plying his recently-imported Hummer vehicle without a registration number.
A furious Harbhajan Singh chided Adam Gilchrist after the Australian suggested that he was perhaps not out when the Indian spinner had him leg before wicket during his historic hat-trick way back in the Kolkata Test in 2001.
The off-spinner could bag only two wickets from 49 overs in the second innings as Surrey drew against Gloucestershire.
Gujarat police on Monday denied reports that Harbhajan Singh had breached security by venturing out of the team hotel on his own on Sunday night, insisting that the Indian off-spinner had gone with proper security cover.
'Did you read Harbhajan's comments about Ashwin? He was out of order there. What is first spinner and second spinner? Spinner is a spinner,' said Engineer during a talk show organised by Legends Club at the Cricket Club of India in Mumbai on Wednesday.
India's ace spinner Harbhajan Singh has served a legal notice on Vijay Mallya-owned UB Spirits over a television advertisement that shows Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni "mocking" at him.
'You will get a lot of results and wins, but it's also important to make the team work harder to see the bigger picture in prospect. That will only happen on wickets in India where the match will go till the fifth day. That means everybody will get tested'
The off-spinner will try and bowl his natural line and length and pick wickets in the next Test.
Mumbai Indians have signed on Dwayne Bravo, while former England batsman Mark Ramprakash rejected an offer to join in lucrative IPL.
Former Australia speedster Brett Lee applauded Harbhajan Singh, saying that the veteran Indian off-spinner has shown a lot of confidence while bowling for Chennai Super Kings in the ongoing IPL.
Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh on Friday said that teammate Kieron Pollard's stunning diving catch to dismiss Michael Hussey was the turning point in Mumbai Indians' eight-run victory over defending champions Chennai Super Kings in a thrilling IPL encounter in Mumbai.
While Brad Hogg is celebrating after India withdrew charges against him, Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh stands no such chance even if Australia wants to reciprocate to India's goodwill gesture.
The Indian off-spinner's haul of 6 for 36 helped the English county skittle out Hampshire for 146 runs.
India have missed a trick by failing to include a specialist left-arm spinner in their World Cup squad, says former India cricketer Mohinder Amarnath.
India's new pace sensation Ishant Sharma and in-form batsman Gautam Gambhir have been overlooked for the first two Tests of the three-Test series against South Africa, beginning next week. The lanky Ishant, who put up a sterling show during India's recent tour of Australia, was not considered for selection since he hasn't recovered from a finger injury sustained Down Under during the tri-series which India won.
BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah said Harbhajan Singh is available for selection for the Nagpur Test, beginning March 1.
Indian seamer Irfan Pathan put behind injury fears and took the field for Middlesex on Wednesday.
India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh refused to believe that cricket is no longer a clean sport in the wake of spot-fixing scandal and said commitment of all the cricketers around the world should not be questioned because of the misdeeds of a few individuals.
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