Harbhajan Singh, one of the best spinners in the world announced his retirement from all of cricket last December. Now, Harbhajan Singh has accused the BCCI (Board of Control of Cricket in India) officials of ignoring a few players from the World Cup-winning squad of 2011.
He has also mentioned why few players were not given an opportunity even though they were young. Players like Yuvraj Singh, who was adjudged the Player of the Tournament, Gautam Gambhir, who had top-scored in the final, Virender Sehwag and himself were ignored after the 2011 World Cup.
Why the officials treated us like ‘Use and Throw’ – 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.
“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”, – Bhaji Added
The World Cup-winning eleven didn’t play a single ODI game together after the 2011 Final. On 2nd April 2011, India won the World Cup after 28 years where they beat Srilanka, who were playing their second straight World Cup final.
While batting first, Srilanka scored 274/6 from their 50 overs quota, credit goes to Mahela Jayawardene, who scored an unbeaten 103. During that time, such a big total wasn’t chased by any team in a World Cup final. In reply, India lost two big wickets in form of Sehwag and Sachin and were 31/2.
Then a partnership of 83-run for the third wicket between Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli helped India recover from the early loss. Gambhir missed out on his well-deserved 100 as he got bowled on 97 by Thisara Perera. But skipper MS Dhoni (91*) and Yuvraj Singh (21*) ensured that India chase the target safely.
MS Dhoni finished the game with his trademark Helicopter shot and India won their Second World Cup after 28 years.
