Harbhajan Singh doesn’t feel Washington Sundar is Ashwin’s successor as of yet

Ravichandran Ashwin hung up his Test boots after picking up 537 wickets at an incredible average of 24.00.

India’s two-Test defeat to South Africa did more than just dent confidence, push them way behind in WTC standings and raise questions over players and head coach. It exposed a hole many hoped would never appear so soon after Ravichandran Ashwin’s retirement. For the first time in over a decade, it looked like India walked into a home series without a proven right-arm off-spinner, and the absence was massive.

As South Africa’s spinners picked up 25 wickets across two matches, India’s tweakers looked short of ideas and impact. One of India’s greatest off-spinners, Harbhajan Singh, believes the problem is huge. He feels that there are no specialist off-spinners in the setup right now. He acknowledges Washington Sundar but he is undercooked as of now.

Harbhajan questions India’s spin depth

Speaking at an event in Mumbai, Harbhajan admitted that India currently lack a specialist off-spinner for Test cricket. When asked whether Washington Sundar could be that long-term replacement, he said the 24-year-old has potential but isn’t ready yet.

“Looks like (India does not have a specialist right-arm off-spinner for Test cricket),” Harbhajan told PTI. “I think Washington Sundar is there, but we will have to bowl him more. He will have to be bowled for 30-35 overs in a Test match to make a bowler out of him,” he added.

Harbhajan said that unless Washington develops through real Test overs, comparing him to Ashwin would be unfair. In the South Africa series, Indian spinners struggled collectively, bowling too quickly (pace) to take wickets in conditions that historically favour them. Harbhajan believes sustained workload, not sporadic use, will determine Washington’s future.

In the South Africa series, Sundar bowled 294 balls. That is the equal number of deliveries that Mohammed Siraj bowled. Yes, in two spin-friendly grounds in Kolkata and Guwahati, Sundar clearly underbowled. Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah all bowled way more than Sundar. The Karnataka spinner took just one wicket as well. Certainly not signs that you’d expect from a frontline spinner. He is massively under work in progress.

Harbhajan also turned his attention to India’s home surfaces, criticising the trend of rank turners. “The kind of pitches we have been playing on, there is no requirement of making a bowler out of anyone because every delivery spins or some straighten,” he said. “A bowler can (only) be considered good when he takes wickets on good pitches.”

He argued that more than a decade of extreme turning tracks has stalled the growth of both batters and bowlers, saying India need to prepare fair Test wickets if they want sustainable success. “We should play on good cricket pitches — it is high time,” Harbhajan said. “If you look at it, we are stuck at that one place and when we play on good wickets, it becomes a case of being required to look into the mirror.”