Former India cricketer Harbhajan Singh shared that India’s decision-making has not been up to the mark and because of this they have failed to win against Sri Lanka in high-pressure matches of the Asia Cup 2022 on Tuesday, September 6 as well. After their five-wicket defeat to Babar Azam’s Pakistan in the Super Four, India was required to beat the Sri Lankans but they failed and now their qualification for the final has become tough.
“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 Singh, who retired from all forms of cricket last year in December, added that the likes of Ravi Bishnoi and Dinesh Karthik should be in 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. 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 Singh has again said that Team India should have handled Ishan Kishan better, keeping in mind the left-hander’s ability to play at a stunning strike 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. When India were knocked out last year, we talked about giving youngsters chances. In the T20 format, the young players can take you forward. But that didn’t happen, we are back to square one,” Harbhajan Singh concluded.
India’s last and final match in the Super Four is against Afghanistan on Friday, September 9 at Dubai International Cricket.
