Ahead of the IPL 2025 edition, former India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has expressed concerns over the current generation of spinners in the cash-rich league, saying that they lack aggression and are overly focused on containment instead of picking wickets.

With flat pitches being served for T20 cricket these days, spin bowlers have often been forced into a restrictive role. Even the best in the business like Rashid Khan struggled to take wickets last season.

According to Harbhajan, this trend is detrimental to the art of spin bowling and highlighted the need for bowlers to adopt a more attacking mindset.

“I am sorry to say in T20s or IPL, a lot of spinners are bowling like fast bowlers. They are not spinning the ball. They are not attacking and don't have the intent of taking wickets. Spinners need to be a little more brave, take chances. They need to spin the ball, look to flight it, take chances and be in the match,” Harbhajan said, as quoted by India Today.

Effective from the IPL 2025 season, bowlers will be allowed to use saliva to shine the ball. The ban on the use of saliva, which was originally imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic, has now been lifted.

Harbhajan welcomed this move as believes it will be beneficial for both fast bowlers and spinners.

“It is good that bowlers can use saliva again, it's a good thing for bowlers. Soon we will see it in international cricket because it is easy to shine the ball with saliva. It brings swing for pacers and drift for spinners,” he added.

Among the emerging players in IPL 2025, Harbhajan has high hopes from Riyan Parag, who is set to lead Rajasthan Royals for the first three matches in the absence of regular skipper Sanju Samson, who is recovering from a finger injury.

“Every year the IPL brings to the spotlight a lot of youngsters, but my eyes will be on Riyan Parag. Assam played well under his captaincy. He is a tremendous talent, I want to see him as a grown man,” Harbhajan remarked.

Besides Parag, Harbhajan will keep a close tab on Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, and Abhishek Sharma, whom he believes are the future of Indian cricket. He also named Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, and Varun Chakravarthy as bowlers to watch out for in the upcoming IPL.