Why Were Players Who Played In 2011 World Cup Treated Like 'Use and Throw' – Harbhajan Singh Lashes Out At BCCI Officials

Former Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has lashed out at the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) officials for treating several 2011 World Cup-winning players as “use and throw”.

Speaking to Boria Majumdar on his show “Backstage with Boria”, Harbhajan Singh questioned why 2011 World Cup-winning players didn’t play together after 2011.

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He also questioned why the players like him Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh were suddenly removed from the Indian team. He elaborated:

“You also know what those officials were doing, what was happening in Indian cricket at that time and which section of people were playing, and how others were being ignored. If we were good enough to win the World Cup in 2011, why didn’t we play even a single match together after that? Was that team good enough just to win the World Cup and became worse after that?”

“Were 31-year-old Harbhajan Singh, 30-year-old Yuvraj Singh, 32-year-old Virender Sehwag, 29-year-old Gautam Gambhir who played in 2011, not good enough to play in the World Cup team of 2015? Why were they removed from the team one by one? Why were they treated like ‘Use and Throw’? It’s a sad story of Indian cricket. I don’t know what’s happening now but till 2011 a lot of people helped me, a lot of them pulled my leg. But after 2012 they pulled my leg to throw me out completely.”

Harbhajan Singh mentioned that he had bagged 400 wickets at the age of 31 and has won India a few games. He added that a player will 400 wickets in his bag is called a legend but in his case, he was just thrown out of the team without any explanation. He elaborated:

“I was 31 in 2011 and had picked up 400 wickets. And a 31-year-old boy can’t take 400 wickets overnight. He must have done something right. Yes, I have won a few games for India and I have done very bad in a few games too. That’s the way the game goes. But if you call another player with 400 wickets a legend and here I am thrown out of the team without any explanation. No selector, no BCCI official is present to answer me, even the captain told me he didn’t know what had happened. I still don’t know what happened then. If you can treat such a big player like that then it shows that anything can happen with any player.”

All my achievements and wickets in the last 2-to 3 IPLs have come because Geeta pushed me to play – Harbhajan Singh

Former Indian off-spinner Harbhajan also revealed that his wife Geeta had pushed him to play the last few IPL seasons and he gave all the credit of his success in the last few IPL seasons to his wife. He asserted:

“A lot of times it happened that I said to her, ‘It’s enough, I don’t want to play anymore, I am done’ but she said, ‘No, keep trying, you still have it in you, just practice’. She pushed me to play the last couple of IPLs. All my achievements and wickets in the last 2-3 IPLs have come because Geeta pushed me to play saying ‘I want to see you play’.”

Harbhajan Singh, who announced his retirement on December 24, 2021, further added that he would have retired back in 2016-17 if it was not for his wife and daughter. He said:

“My wife wanted me to plan and my daughter wanted me to be out there and see what her dad do. I worked hard for them. If not for them, I would have retired in 2016-17.”

Also Read: BCCI Leaving No Stone Unturned To Ensure IPL Can Be Held In India, Franchises Request Board To Confirm Venues Soon – Reports

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