Harbhajan Singh opens can of worms, blames MS Dhoni & BCCI for Team India ouster

Featuring in 367 international matches, Harbhajan, for long, reigned supreme as India’s premier spinner before eventually falling out of favour in the latter part of his decorated career. Amid lack of opportunities and age catching up with him, the 41-year-old, last December, announced his retirement from all forms of competitive cricket.

As the spin-bowling legend begins a new chapter in his life, he appears to be breaking the shackles with explosive revelations about his Indian cricket journey. The veteran cricketer dropped a bombshell by claiming that MS Dhoni and some Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) officials were responsible for his Team India ouster.

“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 the team,” he revealed.

‘DHONI HAD BETTER BACKING THAN OTHER PLAYERS’

Harbhajan minced no words while pointing out the unmatched support Dhoni enjoyed at the behest of the BCCI.

“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.

The Punjab spinner was also hurt on getting a farewell match like other greats before him. “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,” Bhajji said.

When asked about his opinion about the recent controversy involving Virat Kohli and Sourav Ganguly, Harbhajan politely refused to divulge the details before stating that it could have been handled better. “Can’t say what happened between Virat Kohli and Sourav Ganguly. I can only tell you what I have gone through and that things could have been handled in a better way. Big players deserve respect,” the former Indian off-spinner said.

In a bid to make the fans aware of his treatment in the Indian cricket team, Harbhajan also expressed his desire for a biopic to be made on his life. “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,” said Harbhajan.

Asked about who will play the villain in his biopic, Harbhajan signed off by saying, “Can’t say who would be the villain in my biopic. There is not one but many”.