Sanju Samson namedropped as Harbhajan Singh ignores Rohit Sharma to name India's biggest positives in T20 World Cup 2024

Former India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has claimed that Hardik Pandya's bowling form and Rishabh Pant's move to number 3 are the biggest positives. 

Harbhajan Singh made this comment in the context of whether the Indian team is prepared for the Super 8s of the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 or not. The former cricketer, who was a crucial part of the Indian team winning the inaugural T20 World Cup 2007 in South Africa, also feels that Hardik Pandya and Rishabh Pant have been Rohit Sharma's side's biggest positives. 

The Men in Blue qualified for the Super 8s last week after seeing off co-hosts USA in their second-last Group A game in New York. India's final Group match against Canada could not get underway due to the extreme weather conditions in Florida but they qualified for the second round regardless. 

Rohit Sharma and Co. will kick off the Super 8s with a clash against Afghanistan on June 20th before taking on Bangladesh and Australia on the 22nd and 24th. The Indians will have to ensure they finish in the top 2 spots to proceed to the next round, which is going to be the semi-finals.  

Harbhajan Singh hails Jasprit Bumrah

While speaking to Star Sports yesterday, Harbhajan Singh spoke about the positive takeaways from India's outing in the T20 WC Group stages. Harbhajan started off by highlighting that the Indian team have had different heroes in different matches. Jasprit Bumrah, who has already claimed 2 man of the match awards, was the hero against Ireland and Pakistan. 

From his observation, Harbhajan Singh noticed that the Indian players were filled with a different kind of energy as soon as Bumrah removed Mohammad Rizwan. Bhajji admitted that snatching victory from the jaws of defeat against Pakistan was not an easy task at all and that it required a lot of effort. 

"See the positive thing is the way you get yourself out from falling into troubles and tricky situations. On different days, a particular player from the team raised their hand and carried out the job. Bumrah's spell that day (against Pakistan). Rizwan played a bad shot and it filled the Indian team with a positive energy. Snatching the victory away from their jaws was not an ordinary thing," Harbhajan said via Star Sports. 

Harbhajan Singh impressed with Pandya and Pant's comeback 

Harbhajan Singh then spoke about the improvement Hardik Pandya made in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024. Harbhajan was happy to see Pandya turning up for the occasion, especially with the ball, having arrived at the WC as a 4th choice bowler. Lastly, the former off-spinner claimed that the gamble Rahul Dravid took by sending Rishabh Pant at number 3. har paid off.  

"And the biggest positive I think is Hardik Pandya getting those wickets. He came in the tournament as the 4th bowling option but if you look at his tally, he has performed a lot better than it was expected from him. Then sending Rishabh Pant at number 3 and changing his role entirely. The left-right combination only happens when Rishabh plays at 3. So there are a lot of positives despite the challenges," Harbhajan Singh concluded.