Harbhajan Singh proves he could have made a difference to India’s World T20 campaign

There is, as they say, no use crying over spilt milk. However, serious and well-intentioned introspection is a sure way to future success.

MS Dhoni might not be available to captain the Indian squad in the next T20 World Cup slated for 2020 or for that matter even in the ODI World Cup scheduled to be held in England and Wales in 2019. However, a lot of his current teammates in the game’s shorter formats, the likes of Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravichandran Ashwin and Jasprit Bumrah among others, look certain to be in those squads – at least on current form.

They will do well to carry the learnings from the unsuccessful campaign of 2016 as also from the ODI World Cup campaign of 2015 to these events, and ensure there is no repeat. And one aspect they will do well to reflect upon is the presence of experienced campaigners in the final 11 for crunch matches.

Experience borne not only by age but also by familiarity of conditions backed by notable statistics and performances in those conditions – that's one of the keys to success in modern-day cricket.

I have closely observed the veteran 35-year-old off-spinner Harbhajan Singh perform in the two matches that the Mumbai Indians have played in the IPL 2016. And to me it is amply clear that by not playing our very own ‘Bhajji’, a cricketing legend in his own right, in any of the World T20 games that India played, Dhoni missed a trick.

In the first match of this IPL against Pune, Harbhajan came up with a typically breezy cameo with the bat, scoring 45 out of a team total of 120 odd. With the ball he bowled relatively economically compared to the rest of the bowling unit, taking the only Pune wicket to fall, before the great Kevin Peterson took a liking for him and dispatched him for a couple of sixes.

KP is known to take the best apart, but Bhajji, regardless, ended up with acceptable figures if you take out those two strikes of KP, which indicated how intelligently he bowled.

Even more impressive was his performance against the Kolkata Night Riders (KKR) the other night at the Eden Gardens. This one was under pressure, coming on the back of a heavy defeat in their opening game as defending champions. Moreover, they were facing a strong KKR unit, upbeat after a contrastingly fluent victory in their IPL opener against the Delhi Daredevils.

If you now refer to his bowling figures in the match, at first glance you might be misled. A statistical analysis of his performance shows an economy rate which was better than the previous game and again the second best bowling performance for his team on the day. It also reflects another wicket taken.

However, what it does not reflect is the impact his spell had on the overall outcome of the match.

Bhajji came on to bowl at a time when the duo of Gambhir and the mercurial Manish Pandey were threatening to run away with the game. Pandey, in particular, looked in sublime touch and in a marauding mood. He had blasted three sixes and three fours to bring up a 29-ball fifty.

This is the batsman who had registered the first IPL century as an Indian. His maiden ODI ton in Sydney earlier this year where he almost single-handedly ensured that India did not suffer the ignominy of a 5-0 series defeat only reiterated what Pandey is capable of once he gets going.

And he had got going at the Eden! KKR notched up 120 in 13 overs and looked good for an imposing 200+ total with Gambhir also starting to find his range on the other end. But it was then that Bhajji used all his experience, guile, grip variations and knowledge of the wicket to completely outfox Pandey, forcing him into a lame return catch against the run of play.

The danger had not fully eroded with Andre Russell, one of the hottest T20 cricketers around and India’s nemesis in the World Cup, coming in next. The West Indian blaster was looking to cut loose from the outset. Bhajji bowled a total of six balls to him over a period of two overs and conceded 13 runs including just one six.

However, in tandem with Jasprit Bumrah, he stopped Russell from getting into any sort of six hitting rhythm. The four that he hit off Bhajji was a lucky edge that had him beaten.

With confidence not at the peak and the pressure to blaze getting to Russell, Mitchell McClenaghan, the day’s best MI bowler, stopped him in his tracks with three crucial overs left for the final onslaught. KKR eventually ended up with 187, a far cry from 200, which was easily overhauled by MI to notch up their first win of the season and restore some pride.

No games in the World T20

Bhajji did not play in the T20 World Cup

In the World T20 Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Hardik Pandya were preferred over Bhajji. We shall not get into comparing Bhajji with Pandya because frankly, there is no comparison between a greenhorn and a legend.

But if we just compare the T20 statistics of Bhajji with Ashwin and Jadeja, we will find it baffling that he wasn’t given a game even after the Bangladesh match, by which time it had become clear that there was a problem with the bowling unit.

Pandya was not inspiring confidence and the duo of Ashwin and Jadeja were not being penetrative enough to positively impact match outcomes. Add to this their contribution with the bat which had absolutely nothing to show.

Now Harbhajan Singh is a top five wicket taker (in fact he is second at the moment only to the genius of Malinga) in the IPL and Ashwin and Jadeja are not on that list. Readers will be surprised to know that Harbhajan is also amongst the top five batsmen with the highest batting strike rates (149.89) in the IPL as well as among the five fastest 50 scorers.

His international T20 record is also better than the Ashwin-Jadeja duo. Bhajji has 25 wickets from 28 matches with an impressive economy of 6.20. Now Ashwin and Jadeja might have more wickets to their names (Jadeja has just four more) having played more matches, but Bhajji has the best economy rate among the three.

In batting strike rate as well he is far ahead of the duo. And these are the critical numbers in T20. Bhajji would have also surely fielded with more zeal than Ashwin. Now add to this mix, his winning attitude, body language, experience and the success he has had with MI as a passionate captain. Why would you have such a player in your squad and not play him even once?

The same thing happened with Ishant Sharma in the 2015 ODI World Cup in Australia, despite Ishant’s impressive record in the format in those conditions and clear signs in the preceding Test series that he was getting into a good rhythm Down Under. So there is a pattern to this under-utilization of your bench strength in the Indian cricketing scene.

The West Indies played dream cricket in the World T20 and deserved to win. Even with Bhajji in the side, the result might have remained the same. But future Indian teams would do well to at least give class and experience a chance, especially if they have these qualities freely available on their bench.