Recent weeks have witnessed a barrage of criticism directed in direction of the Indian captain, together with remarks from legendary cricketer Sunil Gavaskar, who expressed dissatisfaction with Rohit’s management through the World Test Championship (WTC) closing towards Australia.Harbhajan, having spent vital time with Rohit in each the Indian and Mumbai Indians dressing rooms, emphasised the immense respect that the gifted cricketer instructions amongst his friends. He known as for everybody to recognise Rohit’s capabilities and rally behind him throughout these testing instances.
“I find that people are going a bit overboard… the way Rohit has been criticised. Cricket is a team sport and one individual cannot take you from one place to another,” Harbhajan mentioned in an interview forward of India’s subsequent Test project towards the West Indies.
“Team India didn’t do well in the WTC final, and yes, you talk about that performance and move on from there. But it is unfair to criticise Rohit alone, that he is not scoring runs, putting on weight, not captaining well. I think he is a brilliant leader,” the veteran of 103 Tests mentioned.
For Harbhajan, the necessity of the hour is to point out religion in Rohit’s management capacity.
“I have played with him (Rohit) and watched him closely. He commands a lot of respect not only in the MI dressing room but also in the Indian dressing room. So I think it’s unfair to judge him on the basis of recent results.
“He will come good and we have to present religion in him and we have to assist him moderately than pinpointing that you’re not doing this or that.”
Throughout Indian cricket history, influential captains have often received significant support from the BCCI and its influential administrators. Sourav Ganguly, for example, benefited greatly from the vital backing of Jagmohan Dalmiya, while Mahendra Singh Dhoni enjoyed unwavering support from another influential figure within the BCCI, N Srinivasan, during his captaincy tenure.
Similarly, during Virat Kohli’s most successful days as captain, he had the endorsement of Vinod Rai, a former CAG and head of the Committee of Administrators (CoA), who supported all of his decisions.
With regards to Rohit, Harbhajan hoped that he had been receiving the kind of robust support from the BCCI that his predecessors received.
“If you might have the assist from the BCCI, you possibly can work freely. Not simply MS Dhoni or Virat Kohli, should you return somewhat additional, plenty of captains have gotten assist from BCCI presidents of that point.
“Rohit must be getting support from BCCI. I don’t know how much support he must be getting (though). Having that kind of support will help him take right kind of decision at the right time.
“He will get that liberty if he has that assist. Support have to be there for Rohit like BCCI has given it to all its captains,” the ‘Turbanator’ said.
Pujara did ‘dirty work’ for team and deserves way more respect
Cheteshwar Pujara, a doyen at No. 3 in India’s batting order, has been dropped and Harbhajan feels that Indian cricket hasn’t exactly learned to value his contribution.
“I’ve plenty of respect for Pujara for what he has achieved. He has been an unsung hero of the Indian crew for a few years now. He has been a type of pillars of energy for India, doing the soiled work of hanging in there, ensuring different batters received their consolation,” Harbhajan was blunt as ever in his assessment.
Harbhajan has expressed his massive displeasure with the “lack of respect” for the Saurashtra man and the fact that the yardstick to judge performances hasn’t been same for every senior player.
“I consider he must be given a bit extra respect than what he has been given and the way in which he was chucked out of the crew was a shock for me. Because he is not the one one not scoring runs. There are others as effectively who play in that very same crew who’re scoring runs at similar common,” Harbhajan said.
He didn’t name any other player, but it could be a thinly-veiled reference to Virat Kohli’s sub-30 average during the same period, the time when Pujara struggled for big scores and paid the price recently.
“I feel the principles ought to be the identical for everybody, not totally different for various individuals. Look, if you wish to drop a senior man like him, speak to him and make him perceive ‘take a look at this what we need to do’.
“Tell him what’s the way forward, make him understand. All he needs is a bit more respect.”
Harbhajan can be irritated with Pujara’s strike-rate and intent being questioned again and again, with out individuals understanding {that a} Test crew requires conventional gamers, who usher in stability.
“In case of Pujara, we keep hearing about his strike-rate of scoring runs in Tests but because of that strike-rate, the wickets remain intact and that’s a huge contribution.
“So it’s a must to see which man is contributing what. You have to see how a lot the crew wants him. In my opinion, the crew nonetheless wants him.
“When you go abroad (SENA countries), you need one such batter as you can’t have everyone playing strokes all the time. You need someone who plays normal Test cricket, just like Pujara.”
Harbhajan was all reward for Ajinkya Rahane for the style during which he made a comeback to the Test area, with knocks of 89 and 46 towards Australia within the WTC closing on the Oval.
“The way he made a comeback, he really looked good in that WTC finale. Now he is the vice-captain again.
“You want to point out religion in these gamers in order that they’ll do effectively once more. A great participant is an efficient participant. Doesn’t matter if you’re going ahead or backwards (together with his choice).”
Has anyone tried telling Sarfaraz why is he not being picked?
Harbhajan understands that the current crop of players will get a long rope before a domestic performer like Sarfaraz Khan gets a chance, but Harbhajan wants that the young Mumbaikar is told about the areas that he has to work on, with an assurance that he is there in the mix.
“Sarfaraz will get his alternative as he has scored closely in home cricket. I need to know if anybody has made an effort to go and speak to him, could also be from BCCI or state associations?,” he asked.
“He is scoring runs, so you could go and speak to him. Try and make him the participant you need him to be. You need to hold him across the group and hold him motivated that he can be chosen,” he elaborated.
‘On spin bowling options after Ashwin and Jadeja’
The Indian team has been served admirably in home Tests by Ravichandran Ashwin (474 wickets) and Ravindra Jadeja (268 wickets). However, Ashwin is pushing 37 and Jadeja is nearing 35, and the team will need to explore other options in the near future.
Asked about the spin bowling reserves after the celebrated duo decides to make a move on in two-three years’ time, Harbhajan said the decision-makers in and around the Indian team should encourage a lot of domestic spinners and make them understand the importance and incentives of playing Test cricket.
“I feel it’s one thing to do with home cricket. You speak about Jayant, no matter little Test cricket he performed, he has bowled effectively and is superb with the bat and it’s a must to present religion in them.
“I want to see Axar Patel more and more as he is the one going forward. He is going to replace Jadeja. But Axar is also not too young compared to Jadeja.”
Kuldeep Yadav, who received 5 wickets on Test debut, stays a thriller for Harbhajan.
“Kuldeep was another spinner, when he took those five wickets in Australia, we heard that he will be the guy who will be playing abroad (in SENA) for India, but, after that, he never played abroad.
“I dont know what occurred after that. Maybe he took 5 wickets and he paid the value for taking these wickets,” the spin great said, the sarcasm in his tone quite evident.
He also felt that someone of Yuzvendra Chahal‘s calibre needs to be encouraged more to play Ranji Trophy and stake a claim for a Test spot.
“I’m not saying we do not have spinners however, by some means, we have to make them need to play Test cricket. Like Yuzvendra Chahal, who’s a high spinner and performs in T20 codecs, however then, I get stunned that he does not function in Asia Cup or World Cup.
“You have to make those spinners believe that you are good enough to play Test cricket. You have to push them to play Ranji Trophy so that they learn the art of bowling longer spells.”
(With PTI inputs)
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com