New Delhi: After Suresh Raina’s exit from the cash rich Indian Premier League 2020, Harbhajan Singh’s decision to pull out of the tournament due to personal reasons has opened up a flurry of opinions as to who should be the right fit to replace the veteran turbanator in the Chennai Super Kings team.
While CSK have already shown hesitation in naming a replacement for Raina, the case might be a bit different when it comes to Harbhajan.
Former India wicket-keeper batsman Deep Dasgupta believes CSK should opt for all-rounder Jalaj Saxena as Harbhajan’s replacement. “I think Jalaj Saxena deserves a place, he’s a good enough all-rounder. I think they might look at him, he’s a very good option for Bhajji’s replacement,” Deep Dasgupta told ESPNCricinfo.
Jalaj Saxena is one of the veterans of Indian domestic cricket and has a proven track record as an all-rounder in all three formats of the game. In 54 T20 matches, Saxena has taken 49 wickets at an economy rate of 6.92. The off-spinner, who also bats at the top of the order, has 633 runs to his name in T20s.
Jalaj was part of the Delhi Capitals squad in the IPL 2019 but was released ahead of this current season. The fact that CSK don’t have another off-spinning option in their squad apart from Kedar Jadhav, may just work in the all-rounder’s favour.
“He’s someone who has got a lot of experience not just in red ball cricket but also in white ball cricket he’s been around for a while,” said Dasgupta.
Speaking about Harbhajan’s absence in the CSK squad, Dasgupta said, the MS Dhoni-led side will definitely miss the experience of the veteran off-spinner.
“Yes, he wasn‘t a regularity, didn’t play all the games last season but having said that when you’ve got someone as experienced as Harbhajan and we’re talking about all those 50 plus matches being played on only 3 venues,” Dasgupta said.
PNN/Agencies
