Harbhajan Singh slams BCCI officials for not letting the 2011 WC winning squad play another game together

Harbhajan Singh has accused a section of the Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) officials of promoting favoritism and also for sabotaging his as well as the careers of the players who had played the historic World Cup 2011 final against Sri Lanka at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium on April 2.

At the same time, the former off-spinner also wondered why the star performers of the 2011 edition Yuvraj Singh, who was adjudged the Player of the Tournament, and Gautam Gambhir, who had top-scored in the final, Virender Sehwag and himself did not get a chance to feature in the 2015 World Cup even though they were young.

Why were they treated like ‘Use and Throw’, wonders Harbhajan Singh

“You also know what those officials were doing, what was happening in Indian cricket at that time and which section of people were playing, and how others were being ignored. If we were good enough to win the World Cup in 2011, why didn’t we play even a single match together after that? Was that team good enough just to win the World Cup and became worse after that?”,  wondered Harbhajan Singh while speaking to Boria Majumdar on his show ‘Backstage with Boria.’

“Were 31-year-old Harbhajan Singh, 30-year-old Yuvraj Singh, 32-year-old Virender Sehwag, 29-year-old Gautam Gambhir who played in 2011, not good enough to play in the World Cup team of 2015? Why were they removed from the team one by one? Why were they treated like ‘Use and Throw’? It’s a sad story of Indian cricket. I don’t know what’s happening now but till 2011 a lot of people helped me, a lot of them pulled my leg. But after 2012 they pulled my leg to throw me out completely”, the veteran offie added.

It remains to be noted that all the players who were a part of the Indian team in that successful summit clash of the 2011 World Cup never played an ODI again together. Coming back to 2011 final, Sri Lanka who were playing a second straight World Cup final posted a stiff total of 274/6 from their 50 overs courtesy of an unbeaten 103 by Mahela Jayawardene. In reply, India were reeling at 31/2 before Gautam Gambhir and a young Virat Kohli revived the innings with an 83-run stand for the third wicket.

Gambhir fell agonizingly short of a century after being bowled by Thisara Perera but, skipper MS Dhoni (91*) and Yuvraj Singh (21*) ensured there were no further hiccups as the Indian captain finished it off in style with his trademark Helicopter shot as the Men In Blue were crowned world champions by six wickets ending their 28-year long wait. At the same time, India also became the first nation to lift the coveted trophy at home.