'Don't disrespect youngsters' - Fans slam Harbhajan Singh after his unpleasant remark on Washington Sundar

Harbhajan Singh raised a number of eyebrows with his comments for India youngster Washington Sundar. While showing his support for the likes of Jalaj Saxena and Akshay Wakhare, the veteran spinner made some unpleasant remarks for Sundar. Harbhajan was critical of the selectors’ decision to not give chances to genuine spinners and called Washington ‘a guy who does not spin the ball’.

Harbhajan praised the performance of Saxena and Wakhare in the domestic circuit before ruing the lack of support for the two. He then blamed the selectors for India’s recent struggles in spin and stated that the reason behind it is not giving chances to genuine spinners.

“There is a spinner named Jalaj Saxena (347 FC wickets and 6334 FC runs). They just refuse to consider him. He has been bowling superbly for so many seasons. Wakhare (279 wickets in 83 FC games) is a consistent bowler but no one looks at him. And then you say, spinners are getting lost in Indian cricket. He must have done something good for Vidarbha to have won the Ranji Trophy twice,” said Harbhajan as quoted by Sportstar.

“They pick this guy called Washington Sundar, who doesn’t even spin the ball. I just don’t get it. Why don’t you encourage a bowler who bowls genuine spin, who can lure the batsman out and have him stumped. If Washington can bat a bit, so can Jalaj, who is also a proper spinner,” he added.

The criticism from Harbhajan sounds a bit harsh for Washington who has done quite well since making his international debut as a 17-year old in 2017. Washington started hogging the limelight after impressing in 2017 IPL when he played an integral role in Rising Pune Supergiant’s march to the final and made his India debut a few months later. He is known for his ability to bowl in the powerplays and has so far played 23 T20Is.

Fans slam Harbhajan Singh

Unsurprisingly, a number of fans were unimpressed with Harbhajan Singh’s comments for Washington Sundar. The fans took to Twitter to slam the India legend for his unpleasant remark. While some asked him to move on, some said that he just cannot see a spinner doing well for India. Some even went far by questioning his abilities.

Here are some of the reactions:

I seriously condemn the statement from harbhajan singh about washington sundar… As a retired player you know when you state these kind of statements it really hurts and the players confidence would be damaged… Hope the young and dashing sundar give proper hammering for them..

— Surya@RCB (@SuryaRCB1) March 8, 2020

Washington Sundar – The guy who doesn't spin.@harbhajan_singh May be you never seen his bowling on the rough surfaces.

Importantly this statement doesn't bring any respect to player like you.#BeWiseWithYourWords

— Harry✈🌏 (@Srihari_08) March 8, 2020

What kind of a justification is that @harbhajan_singh? ? How can you forget the legendary @anilkumble1074 …..
I am not justifying Sundar's selection, but at least put up a valid reason. pic.twitter.com/ljU2mv0pTO

— DEEPAK MUDGAL (@deepak29mudgal) March 8, 2020

@harbhajan_singh u said sundar doesn't spin the ball then u say selectors should give confidence to Jalaj Saxena or Nadeem but aren't u disrespecting sundar and making his confidence loose to plz check his stats yu might be senior but u can't judge people and try to remove them.

— Mihir Talreja (@Mihir77614593) March 8, 2020

Is harbhajan sour about every spinner who plays for India ? Move on mate https://t.co/FVlNHwowOq

— Bilal 🇿🇦 (@billz_25) March 8, 2020

Each time u think he cannot get more worse, he proves you wrong!! https://t.co/msA8wEivTt

— Cursed Spidey (@MrStarksPeter) March 7, 2020

Glory moments aside early on, Harbhajan wasn't as big a deal in India as some make him out to be. Spent the entire second half of his career bowling defensive lines. Used to make people scratch their heads with why isn't he making the batsmen drive more. A bit rich from him. https://t.co/FwItq8lU0f

— Yash (@sassy_penguin5) March 7, 2020

Jalbhajan – why you don't select me for games outside chepauk .

MSD – Da you don't even spin the ball . Chepauk Curator does it for you . So please sit . https://t.co/BWY5HzGMZb

— ∆nkit🏏🇮🇳 (@CricAnkit_7) March 7, 2020

After 2017 IPL final he said, " I'm a team man and so I'm not going to cry about their (MI) decision to leave me out from the final " and then added -"But I don't understand the logic behind picking Karn Sharma over me. All my life I've got wickets of Righties. "

Double dholki🤣 https://t.co/l2yLJJQOpO

— Akshay Sharma (@Kohlify) March 7, 2020

Ironical to see such a statement coming from a guy who played alongside Anil Kumble. A spinner who never turned the ball but took 619 Test wickets. https://t.co/uv0osvNHsp

— Shubh Aggarwal (@shubh_chintak) March 7, 2020

Washington Sundar

> Debut IPL 2017 bowled with 6.60 economy
> Won Nidhyas trophy man of series
> Still holds better Power play bowling economy in t20I
> This year SMAT he was MVP player for TN led them to semis

All this at the age of 20

What a clown you turned into https://t.co/rM96Yu4nFs

— Sai (@akakrcb6) March 7, 2020