Harbhajan, out of India's team since an England tour last year, conceded 33 runs in 13 overs for no wickets while playing for Essex. -Photo by AFP

NEW DELHI: Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh on Friday hit out at the country's media after a news report noted his wicketless bowling in recent County matches in England.

Harbhajan, out of India's team since an England tour last year, conceded 33 runs in 13 overs for no wickets while playing for Essex against Gloucestershire in a rain-affected four-day match last week.

“Indian media makes the news out of nothing. Three days of county game gone in rain and they playing 'Bhajji gone wicketless'. Well done media,” Harbhajan, who is known as Bhajji in India, wrote on Twitter.

“Indian media is nothing but a joke. Worst part is the people believe what they write. Come on guys grow up. Stop putting one guy down. Don't do this crap stories. Stay away media,” he added.

The Indian spinner is also wicketless in an ongoing match against Hampshire which started on Thursday. He bowled 28 overs for 73 runs on the opening day of the four-day game in Chelmsford.

“Harbhajan's barren spell for Essex continues,” read a headline by The Times of India on Friday, which used a news report filed by the Press Trust of India agency from England.

Harbhajan played for English county Surrey in 2005 and 2007.

He was on Wednesday named in a 30-man preliminary Indian squad for the World Twenty20 to be played in Sri Lanka later this year.

He has bagged 406 wickets in 98 Tests and 259 wickets in one-day internationals.

Opinion

Editorial

Reserved seats
Updated 15 May, 2024

Reserved seats

The ECP's decisions and actions clearly need to be reviewed in light of the country’s laws.
Secretive state
15 May, 2024

Secretive state

THERE is a fresh push by the state to stamp out all criticism by using the alibi of protecting national interests....
Plague of rape
15 May, 2024

Plague of rape

FLAWED narratives about women — from being weak and vulnerable to provocative and culpable — have led to...
Privatisation divide
Updated 14 May, 2024

Privatisation divide

How this disagreement within the government will sit with the IMF is anybody’s guess.
AJK protests
14 May, 2024

AJK protests

SINCE last week, Azad Jammu & Kashmir has been roiled by protests, fuelled principally by a disconnect between...
Guns and guards
14 May, 2024

Guns and guards

THERE are some flawed aspects to our society that we must start to fix at the grassroots level. One of these is the...