Sourav Ganguly

New Delhi: Former captain Sourav Ganguly on Tuesday expressed surprise on how Harbhajan Singh could be kept out of the national team for such a long time.

“You can call it my bias or love for Harbhajan, but if you are picking the three best spinners in the country, Harbhajan’s got to figure in that list,” said Sourav.

“Harbhajan is one bowler who should be playing all three formats of the game. I still believe one year was a bit too long time to keep Harbhajan out of the Indian team. The Board should have spoken to him, and told him that look we are giving you six months time to sort out your bowling.

“You can’t keep a bowler like him playing domestic cricket for too long. If you have played for the country for 12 years, you are bound to have one bad season. But he has got close to 700 international wickets, which is no mean feat,” said Sourav.

Sourav and Sanjay Manjrekar were speaking during the launch of ESPN-Star Sports’ programme to announce their grand plans of covering the World T20 Championship. The duo also answered some other questions .

The following are excerpts

The favourites

Sourav: I personally don’t believe in favourites. Looking at India, I can say that they have the team to win. They could be in a tough group in the Super Eight but they have the side.

Manjrekar: In this short format, weaker teams have better chance of beating stronger teams. The tournament is spread over 21 days, it gives teams to upset major teams by registering two wins. A team that wins the title would have played only seven matches. It’s very condensed, you can’t have a couple of slow games to start. You got to be at your best right from the first match.

India’s chances

Sourav: They have the team to win. In sub-continent conditions, they won the (50-over) World Cup last year. They have the side, they played very well in Sri Lanka in the five one-dayers and a T20 match. India always have great chance in any format, especially limited-overs cricket. They have got players who can clear the boundary at will. Also, they will be playing in familiar sub-continent conditions. In the last two World T20 Championships, the short ball was a factor as it was flying above the head. But here, even if a bowler digs in short, it will at the most come waist high, which is comfortable for the Indian batsmen.

Manjrekar: India have plenty of match-winners. Individually, each one of them is capable of winning a Twenty20 match on his own. That’s their greatest strength.

Yuvraj Singh’s fitness

Sourav: That we will find out with time. He will play a couple of matches against New Zealand and we should be able to know about his fitness then. Personally, I will not say that I am not worried about his health. But, it’s a great thing that he has recovered so well from cancer.

Manjrekar: He can be a great source of inspiration for the team. No one can imagine what Yuvraj has gone through in life. Only he knows about it. Now that he wants to come back, it would be a great thing to watch him back on the pitch.

On the West Indies

Sourav: They are a power house. Guys like Chris Gayle, (Kieron) Pollard, Dwayne Smith and Andre Russel are there. They’ve also got Sunil Narine, who can be a match-winner. Also good fast bowling attack with Fidel Edwards and Kemar Roach as they bowl at 90 miles an hour.

Manjrekar: West Indies are a strong Twenty20 team because they have got four players who are the best Twenty20 players in the world…

Pakistan’s chances

Sourav: They have got bundles of talent. If they get going, they can be very dangerous.

Manjrekar: The thing with Pakistan is that because there is not enough cricket happening back home, guys are not in the spotlight very often. Come an ICC event, a world event where the focus is on all the teams, that’s Pakistan’s opportunity to show the world what they are made of.

The wickets in Sri Lanka

Sourav: There are changes in the quality of wickets in Sri Lanka. Recently, at the Premadasa Stadium, Sri Lanka scored more than 280 and India chased to win the match. The condition and quality of wickets have changed. They don’t spin as much as it used to during the days of Muralidharan or Dharmasena.

Manjrekar: There could be a link to it… Murali and Dharmasena are not playing any more…