Heavy balls, not a solution for Harbhajan Singh

Harbhajan Singh

Ace off-spinner Harbhajan Singh sees a problem in Shane Warne's suggestion of manufacturing balls with one side heavier than the other in the wake of sweat or saliva not being allowed on the ball to make it swing.

"With a one-sided heavy ball, the bowler and batsman will not be able tell how much it will swing. It could go awry. And what happens to the skill aspect of getting the ball to swing? Where will we see bowlers like Richard Hadlee and Wasim Akram," wondered Harbhajan.

The Turbanator (tag given to him by the Australians who he demolished in the 2001 series at home) advocated a solution to be used on the ball after a decided amount of overs. "Teams can nominate two players to apply the substance with the fielding captain in attendance, supervised by the umpires," said Harbhajan, who wanted to see the ball changed after every 45 overs. He also pointed out that the weighted ball could be a disadvantage to fielders aiming to take high catches as the ball could swing in the air and mislead the fielder.

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