Ex-India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has been vocal about not getting enough chances under the captaincy of MS Dhoni. Harbhajan, who bagged 417 Test wickets, felt he could have picked over 500 wickets if there was enough backing from the management.

Harbhajan announced his retirement from all forms of cricket on December 24. He is currently the fourth-highest wicket-taker for India in Tests, after Anil Kumble, Kapil Dev, and R Ashwin.

Speaking to Zee News, the 41-year-old said BCCI officials were not on his side which didn't allow the then captain Dhoni to pick him in the team again. He added that a lot of players would have played a little longer had they received similar backing like Dhoni.

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"Luck has always favoured me. Just some external factors were not by my side and maybe, they were completely against me. This is because of the way I was bowling or the rate at which I was moving ahead. I was 31 when I took 400 wickets and if I would have played another 4-5 years, keeping in mind the kind of standards I had set for myself, I can tell you that I would have taken another 100-150 wickets or more," Harbhajan told Zee News.

"Yes. MS Dhoni was the captain then but I think this thing was above Dhoni's head. To a certain extent, there were some BCCI officials who were involved in this and they didn't want me and the captain may have supported that but a captain can never be above the BCCI. The BCCI officials have always been bigger than the captain, coach, or team.

"Dhoni had better backing than other players and if the rest of the players would have got the same kind of backing, then they would have played as well. It wasn't as if the rest of the players forgot to swing a bat or didn't know how to bowl all of a sudden," he added.

Harbhajan further mentioned the names of VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid, and Virender Sehwag, who he thinks should have retired while playing for India. 

"Every player wants to retire wearing the India jersey but luck will not always be on your side and sometimes what you wish for, doesn't happen. The big names that you have taken like VVS (Laxman), Rahul (Dravid), Viru (Virender Sehwag), and many others who took retirement later didn't get the chance," he said.

Harbhajan's last appearance in red-ball cricket for the national team was in 2015 against Sri Lanka. After the year 2011, he played only 5 Test matches and he picked up 11 wickets. 

The Jalandhar-born, who represented India in 103 Test matches, said there should be a biopic on him to show his side of the story to the cricket fans. "I would like a film or a web series made on my life so that people can also know my side of the story, what kind of a guy I am, and what I do.

"Can't say who would be the villain in my biopic. There is not one but many," he said.

(With Zee News Inputs)