Sachin Tendulkar with Harbhajan Singh (File Photo) MUMBAI: It was a balmy Friday in Mumbai and the CK Nayudu Hall at the Brabourne Stadium was warm with emotions as members of the legends club gathered to celebrate Sachin Tendulkar’s 53rd birthday. Soft conversations ensued, anecdotes were told, nostalgia pools were generously dipped into and sharp opinions offered about where the game was headed.At the center of this conversation sat the great Harbhajan Singh, India’s 103-Test veteran and owner of 417 Test scalps. He is also a 2007 and 2011 World Cup winner, an IPL stalwart, a politician, a broadcaster, a YouTuber and at heart an unapologetic lover of Test cricket and actual innings.As Legends Club president and former India player Yajurvindra Singh welcomed Harbhajan and MCA president Ajinkya Naik, he also asked the spinner to talk about how cricket has changed since the days when the 60-over game was treated like a mini-Test. After all, Harbhajan represented a very different era, one almost ruthless for bowlers. He came when cricket was already changing. One-day cricket dug into the calendar, T20 was an idea waiting to explode and short boundaries and big bats meant long faces for spinners who were asked to defend rather than threaten.
Watch
Bombay Sport Exchange: Munaf Patel on Gautam Gambhir, Virat vs Bumrah and Indian bowling.However, Bhajji was also someone who passed cricket tests.“Test cricket will test you in all possible ways,” Harbhajan said. “Playing 100 Tests was the biggest achievement of my career,” he added, stressing that playing 100 Tests became his goal after seeing Kapil Dev reach the level, but doubted if too many would achieve that in the modern era.Heads nodded in agreement, though the discussion inevitably turned to modern cricket’s obsession with shorter formats, six-strokes and money-spinning leagues.So where does Test cricket stand today?Harbhajan’s response was firm. “Save Test cricket by playing more Test cricket,” he said, adding: “And by preparing a better pitch. The matches should last five days, not finish in two-and-a-half. When we see the Ashes, the best series, the games last five days. When India play Australia, why should the Tests finish in two-and-a-half days? We had the India-England Test where we had five before we saw Joe I. Root bowl to make the Test five for.”Just like the 2001 Eden Gardens Test where Harbhajan turned India back to a deadlocked series against Australia. It was a reminder of what five-day cricket allows: momentum shifts, morale damaged, faith revived.Spin bowling also became a focal point. Harbhajan lamented how art has been diluted. “The spinners are supposed to spin the ball,” he said bluntly. “If you don’t spin it, you make life easier for the batsmen. Whether it’s T20s or Tests, the fundamentals don’t change.”He talked about mindset as much as mechanics, how spinners need courage because they can’t bowl bouncers or yorkers. Their only weapon, he argued, is deception: in the air, off the field. “The ball from your hand should fall down to form a crescent moon.,” he emphasized.Would these attributes help if he pounced on Vaibhav Sooryavanshi? “My attitude will be. I will try to get him the first ball. Not save myself and drown. My aggression may have got me into trouble, but that’s the only way I know,” he stressed.The topic quickly turned to another child prodigy who became a legend. Birthday boy Tendulkar. Harbhajan did not refer to him as a distant icon but as a senior teammate and brother. About someone disciplined and infinitely available. “He was a great Tendulkar on the field,” Harbhajan said, adding with a wicked smile, “but in the dressing room it was always Paaji who gave juniors like me and Zaheer Khan the freedom to throw him in the jacuzzi in New Zealand after he won the Test in 2009.”The conversation turned briefly to the laws of the game and whether he would change them to have a better balance between bat and ball. “Just like a bowler is banned from bowling two overs, I want batsmen banned from two sixes,” Harbhajan quipped.However, he quickly became serious. “The law is not the problem,” he said. “The goals are there. If you prepare good goals, the balance will come naturally.” He cited spells like Mohammed Shami in Lucknow for LSG vs RR and the MI-CSK game where quality spinners like Akeal Hosein and Noor Ahmad shaped the results. “The best T20 matches are often the games where 160 or 170 are defended,” he felt.At the history-soaked Brabourne, the message was clear: formats may change, leagues will mushroom, but only cricketers with the patience, skill and courage to challenge the game will rule.
Vote
What do you think is the biggest challenge facing Test cricket today?
