An extraordinary decline
The Independent 's Amol Rahan takes a close look at Ramnaresh Sarwan's astonishing decline in form, leading to his axing for the third Test against India
Eleven days ago Sarwan turned 31. Harbhajan turned 31 yesterday. His figures were 14-3-31-1 and 19-2-42-1: ineffective. In March 2001, he took 32 wickets in three Tests against Australia – including the first Test hat-trick by an Indian – while none of his team-mates managed more than three. He was then a bowler whose stock ball turned sharply and drifted away from the right-hander, and whose whirligig, open action, which sometimes meant he bowled from beyond the vertical – ie 11 o'clock – induced terror in batsmen.
Nitin Sundar is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo