Harbhajan Singh shared some shocking details about the final phase of his career in an explosive interview recently. The right-arm off-spinner, who announced his retirement at the age of 41, claimed that he could have picked 100-150 wickets more for the Indian cricket team had he received more opportunities and better backing from the BCCI officials. According to the 2011 World Cup winner, the then-Indian captain MS Dhoni had better backing than all other star players.
Speaking on Zee News, Harbhajan Singh said that luck always favored him in his career, but there were some external factors who stopped him from succeeding. He did not name anyone, but he said that there were some BCCI officials who did not want him in the Indian cricket team. Singh felt even the captain may have supported the BCCI’s decision which was why he never played international cricket after the Asia Cup in 2016.
Fans should note that Harbhajan Singh played his last Test and ODI for India in 2015, while the last time fans saw him in an Indian squad was in the 2016 T20 World Cup, where he did not play a single game. Talking about how the BCCI treated MS Dhoni better than other players, Harbhajan said:
“Dhoni had better backing than other players; and if the rest of the players would have got the same kind of backing, then they would have played as well. It wasn’t as if the rest of the players forgot to swing a bat or didn’t know how to bowl all of a sudden.”
The BCCI officials have always been bigger than the captain, coach or the team: Harbhajan Singh
Furthermore, Harbhajan Singh said that while MS Dhoni may have supported the decision of the BCCI, it is not that he was entirely responsible for his ouster because a captain alone cannot make such a decision. Here’s what Singh added:
“Yes, MS Dhoni was the captain then but I think this thing was above Dhoni’s head. To a certain extent, there were some BCCI officials who were involved in this and they didn’t want me and the captain may have supported that, but a captain can never be above the BCCI. The BCCI officials have always been bigger than the captain, coach or the team.”
