Former cricketer Harbhajan Singh reckoned that India’s decision-making has been awry because of which they haven’t been able to perform well in high-pressure matches. On Tuesday, September 6, India lost to Sri Lanka by six wickets and are on the verge of elimination in Asia Cup 2022.
After their five-wicket defeat to Babar Azam’s Pakistan in the Super Four, India needed to beat the Sri Lankans to revive their campaign. But that wasn’t the case and from here on, India’s qualification for the final isn’t in their own hands anymore.
“There is definitely some issue and it has to be their mentality. They practice a lot and skill-wise, I don’t see a reason why the Indian team fails apart from their mental aspect. The timing of their decision making hasn’t quite been great because of which India falter in crunch matches despite being in good positions,” Harbhajan was quoted as saying to Aaj Tak.
Harbhajan, who retired from all forms of cricket last year in December, reckoned that the likes of Ravi Bishnoi and Dinesh Karthik shouldn’t have been dropped from the playing XI.
“Also, if you have to go back to Ashwin, then why not young Bishnoi? Why not Dinesh Karthik? These players have performed with all their might in the IPL,” he stated.
“We are also not consistent enough in batting. Either our top order fails or our middle-order succumbs. Rohit scored today, but the others faltered. In the first match, Hardik Pandya and (Ravindra) Jadeja made runs, but the top-order couldn’t perform,” Harbhajan mentioned while calling for more consistency from the Indian batters.
Moreover, Harbhajan clearly said that India should have handled Ishan Kishan better, keeping in mind the left-hander’s ability to play at a brisk rate.
“We shouldn’t have made Ishan Kishan a scapegoat and dropped him. His strike-rate is higher than anyone else’s. If your team is making mistakes, then you have to make changes. I am not asking for anyone to be dropped, but you have to bring in changes if you have to win major tournaments,” Harbhajan said.
