Indian cricketers are keeping themselves busy with regular Q/A sessions with fans on Twitter or engaging with their teammates on Instagram live as the nation battles the global coronavirus pandemic amid the lockdown. In this regard, veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh and Indian opener Rohit Sharma got together to share their opinions on several aspects of the gentlemen’s game. While discussing off-spinners, Bhajji hailed Pakistan’s legend Saqlain Mushtaq and also revealed his choice as the greatest off-spinner of all time along with his favourite among the current crop.
During his playing days, Saqlain Mushtaq (496 international wickets) was a force to reckon with and particularly troubled the Indian batters with his spin. Hailing the former cricketer, Harbhajan told Rohit during the Instagram chat, “Saqi bhai was class, he was a class bowler, a great bowler. No one could pick the doosra he bowled and he was a true match-winner. He would often bowl between the 45th and 50th over and invariably pick a couple of wickets and win the match for his team.”
However, Bhajji revealed different names as his all-time as well as his current favourite off-spinner. “My favourite off-spinner right now is Nathan Lyon. I loved watching Graeme Swann because of his consistent length. [Muttiah] Muralitharan (800 Test scalps, 534 ODI wickets) would be number one on the list.” While many may be surprised with Ravichandran Ashwin’s exclusion from the list, the veteran off-spinner named him as India’s best by a fair distance.
Had the COVID-19 crisis not taken over the whole world, both Bhajji and Rohit would have been a part of the IPL 2020 edition at this point in time.
