Harbhajan Singh called up for India's next two ODIs against South Africa
Monday 12 October 2015 12:29, UK
Veteran spinner Harbhajan Singh has been called up to the India squad for the second and third one-day internationals against South Africa, following an injury to Ravichandran Ashwin.
Ashwin picked up a left side strain during his side's five-run defeat to the Proteas in the first ODI at Kanpur on Sunday.
The 29-year-old was only able to bowl four of his allocated 10 overs before being forced to leave the field partway through South Africa's innings.
"After making a detailed assessment of the injury, the BCCI medical team will confirm the time frame required for Ashwin to fully recovery from the injury," read a statement released by the BCCI, Indian cricket's governing body.
One-Day International Cricket
Harbhajan will link up with the rest of the India squad ahead of Wednesday's second ODI in Indore.
The 35-year-old, who has taken 263 wickets in 232 ODI games, has been called up to provide an extra slow bowling option, alongside current first-choice leg-spinner Amit Mishra and left-arm spinner Axar Patel.
India's captain MS Dhoni was unimpressed with his side's bowling performance during Sunday's defeat.
"The outcome was not great for us, there was plenty that went wrong," the 34-year-old said post-match.
"But we showed character to get close. Frankly we should have won this game, we missed Ashwin's six overs, that was crucial because he was our best spinner.
"Until that point the plan was working beautifully but I had to get more overs from [Stuart] Binny and [Suresh] Raina.
"In the end I thought out bowlers should have done a bit better."
