Twitter gets sympathetic after Harbhajan Singh was dropped from Qualifier 2

Karn Sharma was the preferred spinner in the lineup.

Published - 19 May 2017, 20:47 IST | Updated - 19 May 2017, 20:47 IST

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The Mumbai Indians camp sprung a big surprise as they benched their veteran star Harbhajan Singh from the crucial Qualifier 2. Harbhajan was not the part of the line-up that played the Qualifier 1 against the Rising Pune Supergiant either. However, it was expected that the Punjab cricketer would be back to the playing ways in the game against the Kolkata Knight Riders.

The KKR top order boasts of two impact left-handed batsmen in Sunil Narine and Gautam Gambhir. Hence, fielding an off-spinner looked like a very obvious choice heading into the crunch game. However, the team did not think on the same lines and decided to stick to their combinations when it came to the spin department. Karn Sharma was the preferred spinner in the lineup. Also, the services of Krunal Pandya were available with the side.

Harbhajan Singh would be disappointed to miss out on the game though. He had done nothing wrong this season. Barring one odd game where his economy was on the higher side, Harbhajan had been very consistent with his bowling. He was being handed the new ball on most occasions. Despite having bowled in the powerplay, he managed to bowl economical spells.

Perhaps the only point where he missed out was in the wicket taking column. Much to his defense, the fact cannot be ignored that he facilitated the conditions for the other bowlers to take advantage. In the 11 matches that he had played this season, he had returned with 9 wickets to his name with a best of 3/22. He bowled with an economy rate of 6.48.

This economy, considering the point that he bowled in the powerplay, is a testimony of how good he was with the ball. Over the years, Harbhajan Singh has been a perennial performer for the Mumbai Indians outfit. In the 136 matches that he has played in the tournament history for this franchise, he has picked up 127 wickets with an economy under 7. Also, he has a very good strike rate of 22.98.

Here is how the Twitter reacted to his exclusion from the playing XI:

Takes a Karn Sharma to keep a Harbhajan Singh out of the playing XI. #IPL
— Sameer Allana (@HitmanCricket) May 19, 2017

#IPL Given d slow nature of bengaluru pitch & d form he has been in,just can't understand why Bhajji isn't playing.
What say @cricketaakash
— Mihir Kaslikar (@IamMK_27) May 19, 2017

Nitish Rana and Bhajji should have been played today in place of Simmons and Karn Sharma #MIvKKR @mipaltan @IPL
— Neeraj Shah (@nshah249) May 19, 2017

Big call by not selecting #Bhajji though. #MI will hope it doesn't cost them. Big player, lifts the team as well. #MIvKKR #IPL
— Vibhor (@dhotedhulwate) May 19, 2017

No @harbhajan_singh @mipaltan, can't leave a big player out in big games. Strange call considering it's slow,low pitch here @IPL
— Monty Panesar (@MontyPanesar) May 19, 2017

No #Bhajji No #YusufPathan
Big decisions…indication of the change of guard? #MIvKKR #IPL
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) May 19, 2017

Horrendous frm mumbai. No bhajji in a crunch game?? Seriously i mean karn isnt better than bhajji. Will have to prove his selction today.
— Raktim Routh (@routh_raktim) May 19, 2017

so harbhajan stays on the bench #MIvKKR
— Gaurav Kalra (@gauravkalra75) May 19, 2017

Who would have imagined players like @harbhajan_singh and @iamyusufpathan could also be dropped in such critical @IPL games #MIvKKR
— Vikrant Gupta (@vikrantgupta73) May 19, 2017