IND vs WI | ‘He has been doing dirty work for India’: Harbhajan Singh slams exclusion of star player from team

IND vs WI | The West Indies Tour marks the start of a new World Test championship cycle for the Indian Cricket team. Rohit Sharma’s India fell on the final hurdle of bagging an ICC glory home after their drubbing at the hands of Australia in the WTC Final 2023. The loss forced India to make a big change by removing Cheteshwar Pujara from the team. But former Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh has slammed the team for excluding the veteran.

Pujara was earlier dropped from India’s squad following the South Africa series in 2021. He has now yet again faced the brunt of selection after a modest outing in the WTC Final against Australia. The 35-year-old managed to score just 14 and 27 across two innings. Meanwhile, Singh has asked some tough questions about his exclusion, stating he has been doing dirty work for India.

“I have a lot of respect for Chesteshwar Pujara for what he has achieved. He has been an unsung hero of the Indian team for many years now. He has been one of those pillars of strength for India, doing the dirty work of hanging in there, making sure other batters got their comfort,” Singh said.

He isn’t the only one not scoring: Singh

The WTC Final saw many other Indian batters including Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma not getting big scores against the Aussie line-up. Singh was blunt in this aspect too. He stated that Pujara should be given respect and highlighted that he isn’t the only one not having runs on his back. “I believe he needs to be given a bit more respect than what he has been given and the way he was chucked out of the team was a surprise for me.

Because he isn’t the only one not scoring runs. There are others as well who play in that same team who are scoring runs at the same average,” Harbhajan said.

Meanwhile, Kohli also saw a drop in his form in the recent time and has found one century since 2020 in 25 Test matches. “I think rules should be the same for everyone not different for different people. Look, if you want to drop a senior guy like him, talk to him and make him understand ‘look this is what we are looking to do’. Tell him what’s the way forward, make him understand. All he needs is a bit more respect,” Singh said.

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