IPL 2025: Harbhajan Singh urges spinners to bowl aggressively
What's the story
Former Indian cricketer, Harbhajan Singh, has voiced his concerns over the current state of spin bowling in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
He feels many spinners are playing too defensively and aren't aggressive enough.
The observation comes as batting-friendly pitches have become more common in T20 cricket.
Even top-tier bowlers like Rashid Khan have struggled to take wickets consistently under these conditions.
Call for change
Harbhajan urges spinners to be more aggressive
Harbhajan Singh feels this trend of being defensive is hurting the art of spin bowling. He wants bowlers to be more aggressive.
"I am sorry to say in T20s or IPL, a lot of spinners are bowling like fast bowlers," Harbhajan said, as quoted by India Today. .
"They are not spinning the ball. They are not attacking and don't have the intent of taking wickets."
Rule change
Harbhajan welcomes BCCI's decision to allow saliva use
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has lifted the ban on using saliva to shine the ball, a restriction imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Harbhajan Singh welcomed the decision, saying it would benefit both pacers and spinners.
"It is good that bowlers can use saliva again, it's a good thing for bowlers," he said.
"Soon we will see it in international cricket because it is easy to shine the ball with saliva."
Future stars
Harbhajan Singh identifies promising IPL 2025 talents
Looking forward to IPL 2025, Harbhajan Singh has high hopes from Riyan Parag, who will captain Rajasthan Royals in the absence of regular skipper Sanju Samson.
He also said he would like to keep an eye on the performances of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, and Abhishek Sharma.
Among bowlers, he picked Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana and Varun Chakravarthy as players to watch out for.