Harbhajan Singh has said that BCCI selectors should talk to players as to why they were dropped from the team and what were their shortcomings. He also felt that some of the players who played with distinction for the country got the send-offs that they deserved.
He included the names of Virender Sehwag and VVS Laxman, both of whom played more than 100 Tests for India and Gautam Gambhir, who appeared in over 50 Tests for the nation.
"Players like Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, VVS Laxman and many more deserved better farewell. If we do not respect our players nobody will respect them outside. Whatever happened to me, I hope that does not happen to anyone else," he said.
“Chappell divided the team, no one trusted anyone,” Harbhajan Singh recalls 2007 World Cup debacle
He also talked about him being dropped from the team after the 2015 home ODI series against South Africa and played his last game in India colors in 2016.
“In the last ODI series that I played, I bagged six wickets despite we lose the series. After that, I never played for India. Things were not right for me and I will talk in detail in future. I will always regret and things could have been handled better. Playing 100 Tests is a very big thing for any player and I was lucky enough that I'm one of them. I agree that my performance may dip a bit or I was not performing as expected but it could have been handled better, “he said.
“Nobody came to talk to me. I returned from West Indies with 400 scalps and dropped from the side and never picked again in the Test cricket," the spinner, who has played 103 Tests, 236 ODIs and 28 T20Is for Men in Blue.
Harbhajan, along with Suresh Raina and Irfan Pathan have been vocal about letting Indian players play in foreign T20 leagues as well. BCCI, as a policy, doesn’t allow any current or non-retired player to appear in any other T20 league, apart from the IPL.
"I think BCCI should allow players to play in foreign leagues. You have to allow non-contracted players whom you are not looking to choose in the Indian side. You have to make a system that players who have played 50 Tests or are above 35 years will seek permission from the board," Harbhajan said in a chat with Aakash Chopra on YouTube.
(ANI Inputs)
