Harbhajan Singh explains reason behind Sanju Samson's ouster from India XI at WC: ‘His role completely changed’

Harbhajan Singh talked about India's biggest positives from the group stage of the T20 World Cup.

Legendary Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh believes Hardik Pandya taking wickets for India turned out to be the biggest positive for Rohit Sharma and Co. in the group stage of the T20 World Cup. After a forgetful season in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 with the Mumbai Indians (MI), Hardik returned to the grandest stage as Rohit's deputy.

Harbhajan Singh explained the real reason behind Sanju Samson's ouster from the playing XI (ANI-AP)

Pandya bagged three wickets for India against Ireland, while power-hitter Rishabh Pant remained unbeaten (36) to seal India's first win of the T20 World Cup. The white-ball maverick also bagged a brace of wickets against Pakistan in the low-scoring thriller between the traditional rivals. According to Harbhajan, Pandya has done much better than what was expected of the Indian all-rounder.

'The biggest positive is that Hardik Pandya…'

"The biggest positive is that Hardik Pandya took the wicket. He was the fourth bowler in this tournament. But if you look at his wicket tally, he has done much better than what was expected of him," Harbhajan told Star Sports. The legendary spinner was also mighty impressed with the return of Pant in the ICC tournament. Recovering from the life-threatening car accident in 2022, Pant has cemented his place as the No.3 batter in the Indian lineup. Harbhajan recalled that power-hitter Sanju Samson was tipped to feature in the Indian team after a run-fest IPL 2024.

'His role was completely changed'

"Along with him, Rishabh Pant played at number 3. His role was completely changed. Before this World Cup, we were saying that Sanju Samson will play in the team because he has made big runs. To make Rishabh Pant play at number three is a big positive. Left-Right combination is formed when Rishabh Pant plays at number three," Harbhajan added.

Recording three wins, India finished as group leaders in the ongoing ICC event. After topping Group A in the T20 World Cup, India will meet Afghanistan in the Super 8 phase of the ICC event on Thursday in Barbados. "There are a lot of positives. Of course, there are challenges and difficulties. But the challenges come in front of those who are brave. This team is a team of brave players. They fought well and played very well. Because of this, they topped the group," Harbhajan concluded.