'Dhoni had better backing than other players': Harbhajan backtracks on India journey, points out 'external factors'

Harbhajan represented India in 103 Tests, 236 ODIs and 28 T20Is, and was also a part of the 2011 World Cup-winning squad.

He may have finished with 417 Test wickets but former India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has not been mincing his words when talking about his ouster from the national setup. Before drawing curtains on an illustrious career spanning 23 years, Harbhajan represented India in 103 Tests, 236 ODIs and 28 T20Is, and was also a part of the 2011 World Cup-winning squad.

Harbhajan Singh and MS Dhoni (Getty Images)

The 41-year-old Harbhajan recently signed off with a staggering 711 international wickets -- 417 Test hunts, 269 ODI scalps, and 25 plucks in T20Is. The spin great, however, feels he could have scooped another 100-150 wickets if the sudden ouster had not knocked on his door.

"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 in an interview.

The veteran made no bones in admitting that the former India skipper MS Dhoni received better backing from the board than any other player.

"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.

“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 further added.

The Sourav Ganguly-Virat Kohli saga has taken over the news arena lately and Harbhajan feels the situation could have been handled in a better manner. He also heaped praise on Ganguly for backing him for the Test series against Australia, where the tweaker became registered 32 wickets in three Tests including the maiden Test hat-trick for India.

"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.”

“I think Sourav Ganguly was a great captain and he picked me when I was out of the team. In that series, I took 32 wickets and became the first Indian to take a hattrick," he said.