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‘Seniors have played enough cricket’: Harbhajan Singh's strong message to BCCI after India's WTC disappointment
Harbhajan believes India should try-out new faces in the international setup based on the performances in the recently concluded IPL.
The 2021-23 World Test Championship (WTC) cycle ended on an agonising note for India but its time to move on and look at the new assignments that lie ahead. The WTC final concluded on Sunday and Team India will start their next campaign only a month later against the West Indies, which gets underway from July 12.
The team will travel to the Caribbean islands, where they will play a full-fledged series – two Tests, 3 ODIs, and 5 T20Is. While the team for the upcoming series is yet to be announced by the BCCI but there have been calls to rest some of the underperforming senior members and try fresh talents.
Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh echoed similar views in a video shared on his YouTube channel and urged BCCI to rest the seniors and not delay the case any further.
Also Read | Stats show Virat Kohli may have been India's worst batter and major reason for team's low scores in WTC 2021-23
"The seniors have played enough cricket and should be rested. I urge them (the board) to not delay this any further and send a young team to the West Indies," said Harbhajan.
Harbhajan believes India should at least try-out new faces in the T20 setup based on the performances in the recently concluded IPL. Among the few names that Harbhajan suggested were Mumbai Indians breakout star Akash Madhwal and Yashasvi Jaiswal.
Both the young aces had an exceptional season in IPL 2023, with Madhwal jolting opposition with the ball and Yashasvi playing some tremendous knocks with the bat.
Also Read: IPL stars to play key role as Hardik Pandya's India T20I team transitions away from Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma
Harbhajan believes the revamped squad under Hardik Pandya's leadership will not only give West Indies a fight but also emerge victorious.
"I will take Axar [Patel] as the all-rounder and then the two spinners in [Ravi] Bishnoi and Yuzvendra Chahal. Akash Madhwal had a great IPL and I feel he should be there in the team as well.
"Shubman Gill will definitely be one of the openers. I would like to see them try Yashasvi Jaiswal as the other opener. He has had an incredible IPL season and has also done well wherever he has got an opportunity. I feel he is ready for the biggest stage.
"They can even try him in the senior team that's how good he has been. Ruturaj Gaikwad would be my third opener," the former cricketer said.
