India to play Ireland on June 5 in New York in their first T20 World Cup 2024 match.
In other selections, Harbhajan went with Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli as openers.
"Batting is going to be difficult on this pitch. You need your big players in such situations and Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli should open. The platform that they can set, I feel it would be tough for Yashasvi Jaiswal to do the same in these conditions," Harbhajan said on his YouTube channel.
The 2007 T20 World Cup winner feels that the top-ranked T20I batter, Suryakumar Yadav, should bat at Kohli's preferred position in the T20 World Cup.
"When I was in India, I said that spinners would play a big role in this T20 World Cup. However, after arriving here, I feel that while spinners will be useful, the fast bowlers will be in the game every single ball on this pitch. We saw what Anrich Nortje did in that spell. Even an ordinary bowler has looked threatening here," he added.
The spin-bowling legend completed India's formidable batting lineup by selecting Rishabh Pant, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, and Ravindra Jadeja. But in a shocking decision, picked Yuzvendra Chahal over Kuldeep Yadav in the XI to partner Jadeja in the spin department.
The pace department picked by Harbhajan Singh consisted of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, and Arshdeep Singh.
Harbhajan Singh's India XI for Ireland clash:
Rohit Sharma (C), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (WK), Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh.