‘Different people, different rules’ – Harbhajan Singh after Suryakumar Yadav didn’t find a place in India’s squad for Australia tour

Harbhajan Singh, the veteran Indian cricketer, was left amused after Suryakumar Yadav wasn’t picked in Team India’s limited-overs squads for the upcoming tour of Australia. The 30-year-old is currently plying his trade for the Mumbai Indians (MI) in the 2020 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and he hasn’t disappointed by any stretch of the imagination.

In fact, he has been one of the main reasons why the Mumbai-based franchise have dominated in the tournament. In 11 games, the right-handed batsman has 283 runs at an average and strike-rate of 31.44 and 148.94 respectively. Batting at number three, he has been able to carry on the good work by the MI openers. Surya has been with Mumbai team since the 2018 edition.

Suryakumar Yadav left out despite performing well

Prior to that, he played for the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), though he used to bat lower down the order. In 96 IPL matches thus far since his debut in 2012, Yadav has 1,827 runs with nine half-centuries. Overall, in T20 cricket, the Mumbai-born has 3,295 runs with 17 half-centuries.

That Harbhajan was surprised by his omission can’t be questioned. The Jalandhar-born tweaker also asked the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to look into Surya’s numbers over the years.

He took to Twitter and wrote, “Don’t know what else @surya_14kumar needs to do get picked in the team india… he has been performing every ipl and Ranji season… different people different rules I guess @BCCI I request all the selectors to see his records.”

Here’s the tweet:

As far as Harbhajan is concerned, he was set to play his third season with the Chennai Super Kings (CSK). However, he pulled out of the tournament, leaving a massive void in the Yellow Army’s spin attack. The Super Kings also fell short of making the IPL playoffs for the first time in their 11 seasons.

CSK are left with a couple of games and they will be looking to restore some pride. MS Dhoni, their skipper, has also come under the cosh. However, CSK CEO Kashi Viswanathan sounded confident about Dhoni captaining them even in the 2021 edition.