NEW DELHI: Due to their lack of runs during the five-Test Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Indian mainstays Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma came under fire from former cricketer Harbhajan Singh.
There were concerns about the two contemporary titans’ position in the Test team as the world watched them falter when the team most needed them.
Management should choose players based on their performance, Harbhajan advised. The former spinner said senior players should play county cricket prior to the series if selectors decide to just use senior players for the upcoming Test tour in England.
“The selection should be based on the performance, whether Virat or Rohit. No player is bigger than the game, even if they think they are superstars in their minds. If you want to take senior players on tour, you have to make sure they play county cricket before the England series,” Harbhajan said on his YouTube channel.
In eight innings, Kohli only scored 190 runs at an average of 23.75, and he was dismissed four times by Scott Boland. Rohit managed score 31 runs in the series’ three Test matches.
Additionally, Harbhajan unleashed a vicious attack on the Indian management for the team’s selection throughout the series, urging them to choose players for the England Test visit based on their performance rather than their stature.
After the first look at the surface was made public, concerns were expressed over India’s team selection for the last Test of the series in Sydney. Grass covered the entire SCG strip. There was very little for the spinners and plenty for pacers, even when the cracks showed.
India chose to include two spinners in its playing XI on such a surface, drawing on Sydney’s past. When Jasprit Bumrah experienced back pain and was unable to do his duties with the ball, the choice came under scrutiny.
Prasidh Krishna, playing his first Test of the series, and Mohammed Siraj bore the full burden of defending the small 162-run mark.
“How was selection done? Was there any point in playing two spinners in Sydney on this pitch where they didn’t even bowl? So, to extend your batting, you added spinners because they can bat. But you didn’t see if there was another good seamer, things could have been better. They are stuck to stubbornness. This is not the T20 format. Test cricket is played differently,” he added.
In addition to praising Bumrah, Harbhajan stated that India would have lost the BGT to Australia by a score of 5-0 or 4-0 if the “national treasure” had not been on the squad.
“If Jasprit Bumrah wasn’t in this tour, the series would have ended 5-0. Jassi saved India in Perth. After Adelaide, he saved India in the rest of the matches. If he wasn’t in the series, India would have lost by either 5-0 or 4-0,” Harbhajan said.
