Harbhajan Singh wants the Indian selection committee to let Virat Kohli know if they want to move on from him in the Indian T20I side. According to reports, Kohli and captain Rohit Sharma were told they didn’t figure in India’s future T20 plans given that the next World Cup was two years away.
Kohli has been in superlative form since his return in the Asia Cup last year after a break. He has made 700 runs in 12 matches at an average of 70 with seven fifties and one century in T20Is since his return.
Not only this, but he was the second-highest scorer of the tournament with 276 runs – five short of Mohammad Rizwan’s 281 – and averaged a mind-blowing 92 in the Asia Cup 2022. Then in the T20 World Cup 2022, he scored another 296 runs to lead the charts. This time, that average shot up to a whopping 98.66. The four half-centuries – including the monumental unbeaten 82 against Pakistan at the MCG.
However, with the Indian team’s back-to-back failures to win two big tournaments, BCCI selectors have seemingly moved on from Virat Kohli and also captain Rohit Sharma in T20Is at least.
This was evident from the fact that neither Kohli nor Rohit has featured in any T20Is that India has played since the T20 World Cup last year and Hardik Pandya has been named the captain in the longer run.
“See, I don’t know what selectors have in their minds and what they want to do but if we don’t win big tournaments like the World Cup, there always is pressure and the senior players bear the brunt of it. We tend to say ‘If the established stars are not able to win, we might as well pick youngsters – we should invest in them’. But as far as Virat is concerned, I don’t think he can be sidelined on the basis of form,” Harbhajan, who is an expert with Star Sports, official TV broadcaster of IPL 2023, told Hindustan Times.
A Player Should Be Given Respect – Be It Rohit, Virat: Harbhajan Singh
Kohli and Rohit will be aiming to bring some ICC silverware home when India hosts the ODI World Cup at home in October- November. And Kohli is in superlative form in IPL 2023, with 364 runs in nine games, including five fifties.
Hence Harbhajan hopes the BCCI show some respect towards their former skipper. Regardless of the decision taken by the selectors, the communication has to be clear.
“We were sidelined first and then got to know through newspapers. It shouldn’t happen to Kohli. A player should be given respect – be it Rohit, Virat or whoever else. Communication is the key. If conducted properly, it will create a healthy relationship between players and selectors because if someone is sidelined and not informed about it, that leaves a sour taste in every player’s mouth,” said Harbhajan.