Had a lot of questions in mind, no one told me why I was dropped, reveals Harbhajan Singh

Harbhajan Singh recently announced his retirement from all forms of cricket pulling down curtains on his illustrious career. Harbhajan has 711 international wickets during 23 years career. He has 25 T20I wickets and 269 ODI wickets. Also he is the fourth highest wicket-taker for India in Tests behind Anil Kumble, Kapil Dev, Ravichandran  Ashwin with 417 wickets. 

Harbhajan’s last match for India was a T20I in 2016 but he continued to play the Indian Premier League. He was a part of Kolkata Knight Riders for the last season. However, in spite of his consistent performances in international cricket, Harbhajan wasn’t a regular face in the team after the 2011 World Cup with the emergence of Ravichandran Ashwin. Reflecting on his career Harbhajan said that he was surprised on his sudden exit and one told him why he was dropped. He also said that he would have ended up taking 500-550 wickets with the right kind of support. 

“When someone takes over 400 wickets and then he doesn’t get a chance or he’s not been told the reason for the drop, many questions are raised in mind. I asked many people regarding my drop out from the team, but I didn’t get any reply,” Harbhajan said in an interaction with Dainik Jagran.

“It always feels nice to have that support. I’ll say that if I got the support at the right time, I would’ve retired much earlier after 500-550 wickets because I was 31 when I reached the 400-wicket mark. If I played 3-4 years more, I would’ve reached 500 wickets but that didn’t happen.”

Harbhajan said that his removal from the team even after taking 400 Test wickets depicts the ‘sad story of Indian cricket’. 

"I asked them have I suddenly lost my appearance or my bowling has deteriorated or what has happened that you are not choosing me at all. There was no answer to this. And if this can happen to the 400 wicket-taker, then no one will ask the 40 wicket-taker. This is a sad story of Indian cricket where the one who has achieved something, isn't even talked to properly after he is not needed,” he concluded.