Harbhajan Singh: What's Wrong With The Team India Performance?

• Sports

• January 06, 2025

The performances of Team India have been pretty disappointing not over a few matches but over a considerable period of time, be it ODIs or Tests. The Test performances haven't been even remotely encouraging over the past several months-from being whitewashed at home to the 1-3 result in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia. On the issue, former spinner Harbhajan Singh stated that he had a problem with the current team and felt that there was something wrong with the side after Rahul Dravid's period as the head coach of the Indian team and stressed that India cricket must learn to eliminate the superstardom culture.

Decline of Team India since Dravid's Departure

Harbhajan Singh threw a flashback to reminisce India's past glory under Rahul Dravid.

• Achievements Under Dravid: Won the Test series against England at home and the T20 World Cup.
• Recent Failure: Lost a series of ODI to Sri Lanka, whitewashed by New Zealand in Tests and also suffered 1-3 defeats in Australia.

But at the same time, he appeared bewildered about the steep downfall. "Everything was alright under Rahul Dravid. But in the last six months, it has crumbled completely," he said. The man who has taken up the duties of coaching from Rahul Dravid himself is Gautam Gambhir and these performances have only added to him becoming the point of discussion.

Performance Before Stardom

Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli had been coming under attack for sheer lack of performances in Australia. Responding to demands for shuffling the team, Harbhajan said:

• Superstar Culture: "Nothing is more important than the game itself," he said urging the team to go beyond star players.
• Missed Opportunities: Harbhajan spoke about the exclusion of promising talents like Abhimanyu Easwaran and Sarfaraz Khan, who were picked but did not feature.
• He again emphasized form over fame should be the yardstick for selection to the national team.

Bumrah: The Lone Bright Spot

Jasprit Bumrah was one of the brightest stars in the Australia series. He took 32 wickets in five matches and became the top wicket-taker of the series. Harbhajan appreciated Bumrah's efforts and said:

• "If Bumrah hadn't been there, India would have lost the series 0-5."
• He admitted that Bumrah was the reason behind India's only victory in Perth and other competitive moments in the series.

Harbhajan's Call for Change

Harbhajan Singh's statements do reflect a very deep need for introspection in Team India. His call to ditch the superstar culture and give deserving players a chance really resonates with calls for a more performance-oriented approach. Now that the talented players are waiting in the wings, the team has an opportunity to rebuild and regain its competitive edge.