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In a scathing assessment of India’s defeat to Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Harbhajan Singh says the team needs performers not superstars.
Glenn McGrath (left) greets Indian cricketers before the start of Sydney Test. (AP Photo)
The below-par batting display from India’s senior players during the recent Australia tour has resulted in widespread criticism with Harbhajan Singh alleging that a “superstar culture” has taken root in the setup which is having a negative impact.
The likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma had a series to forget while KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant were plagued by inconsistency.
Rohit played in three of the five Tests but mustered 31 runs in them while Kohli, after starting his tour with a century, finished with 190 runs from nine innings having played in each game.
“There is a superstar culture which has developed,” Harbhajan said on his YouTube channel. “We don’t need superstars, we need performers. If the team has them (performers), it will move forward. Whoever wants to become a superstar should stay at home and play cricket there.”
Harbhajan feels that reputation of a player shouldn’t be a criterion for selection.
“There is a tour of England coming up. Now everyone has started talking about what will happen in England, who will go, who will not go. For me, it is a simple matter. Only players who are performing should go. You can’t keep picking players on their reputation,” he said.
“If you do that, then you should take Kapil Dev sir and Anil bhai also. Here, the BCCI and the selectors will have to be firm and act tough. I don’t think that the superstar attitude is taking the team forward,” he added.
Harbhajan says a player should command place in the squad on the basis of his performance and tough questions need to be asked if Indian cricket has to move on from the poor display in Australia.
“It should be based on performance only, whether it is Virat, Rohit or anyone. No player is bigger than the game, even if he thinks in his mind that he is a big superstar. If we have to take Indian cricket forward, we have to ask tough questions,” he said.
India lost six of their last 10 Tests of the ongoing ICC World Championship cycle and failed to qualify for the final for the first time. They clean swept Bangladesh in a two-match Test series at home and appeared in prime position to seal another WTC final spot. However, a 3-0 defeat to New Zealand at home and a 1-3 loss on Australia tour ended their hopes.
