India vs South Africa: Rain left the ground damp, not the groundsmen’s fault, says Harbhajan Singh

India vs South Africa, 3rd T20I was abandoned without a ball bowled. (Source: PTI)

Harbhajan Singh came to the rescue of under-fire Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) curator Probir Mukherjee and his team who had been blamed for the abandonment of India-South Africa T20I because of a wet outfield on Thursday.

The CAB has squarely blamed the veteran curator for not covering the entire ground during the afternoon showers that left the field soggy as the last T20I of the Paytm Twenty20 Trophy match could not be held and South Africa swept the series 2-0.

“There was so much of rain that nobody could have done anything. The rain had left the ground damp and unfit to play on. It wasn’t the groundsmen’s fault,” Harbhajan said during a promotional programme.

jQuery(document).ready(function(){ jQuery('.rel-article').bxSlider({ maxSlides: 6, slideMargin: 3 }); });

Harbhajan, who considers the Eden Gardens as his second home and his favourite venue, hoped he would return to play again for a Test or ODI.

“I have some wonderful memories of the ground so it was disappointing that the match could not be held. But I would definitely like to come back again for a Test or ODI,” Harbhajan said.

The highest wicket-taking India off-spinner had earlier said he would like to call it a day after playing a Test at Eden Gardens.

With the one day leg of the Freedom Series set to begin in Kanpur Sunday, Harbhajan said India would be tough opponents in the 50-over format.

“It’s disappointing that we lost the Twenty20 series but we are looking forward to make a big statement in the ODIs and the Test series.”