IND Vs SA: Harbhajan Singh Backs Ravichandran Ashwin To Start For India Along With Ravindra Jadeja

Former Indian Off-spinner and 2011 World Cup winner Harbhajan Singh has backed former teammate Ravichandran Ashwin to start along with Ravindra Jadeja in the 1st Boxing Day Test between India and South Africa at Centurion later today.

The possibility of Ashwin starting for India is a much debated topic with a few former Indian cricketers turned Pundits snubbing the off-spinner from their predicted playing XI. Whereas others like Harbhajan Singh himself have included or wish to see Ravichandran Ashwin pairing up with Jadeja, giving the latter a helping hand.

Both of them are the only 2 spinners that are in the squad with Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal not cutting. The backdrop to this decision by the selectors and of course, Rahul Dravid could be because of the experience Jadeja and Ashwin have in foreign conditions.

But when talking about experience, it should be noted that Jadeja has played only 1 test match in South Africa during the 2013 tour where he picked up 6 wickets in the 2nd innings with the Proteas then led by Graeme Smith winning the contest by 10 wickets.

Ravichandran Ashwin on the other hand has been a part of all Indian tours to the Rainbow Nation since 2013 but has been quite inconsistent with his off-spin prowess. The 37-year-old has played 6 Tests at South Africa where he has picked up only 10 wickets that too in an consistent manner.

While being a part of all the Indian sides since, Ashwin does give an extra edge with his experience but is unknown whether he will be able to get help from the Bounce pitch at Centurion. There is going to be very little help for the spinners if it doesn’t rain, something that is expected to happen on Day 1.

“I feel the conditions will be hot, the pitch will be hard, the bounce will be there and you have three pacers so I think India should go with two spinners. I feel South Africa would love to play pace so I think you should play on your strengths. I feel Ashwin should play but I don’t see that happening.” – Harbhajan said.

Otherwise, the conditions are going to be hot with the surface producing bounce and helping the pacers. It will be interesting to see if Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid include Ashwin in the playing XI with Jadeja and the 3 pacers.

Harbhajan Singh Thinks Ravichandran Ashwin Is A Better Option At Number 8 Than Shardul Thakur

Other than his spinning ability, Harbhajan Singh has backed Ravichandran Ashwin for another reason and that is because of his prowess with the Bat as well. He opined that Ashwin should get a start instead of pacer Shardul Thakur at number 8.

Ashwin has scored 5 Centuries and 14 Half-centuries in Tests and has 3185 runs to his name in 94 matches for India.

“Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal will open. Shubman Gill would come in at number three and the fourth spot will be for Virat Kohli. The fifth and sixth spots belong to Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul respectively.”For number seven Ravindra Jadeja but the biggest question comes at number 8 with Ashwin and Shardul available. I feel Ashwin should play at number 8 because you have Jasprit Bumrah for number 9, Siraj for 10, and Prasidh Krishna for 11.” – Harbhajan Singh concluded.