Former spinner Harbhajan Singh urged the Indian cricket team to remain united in the upcoming T20 World Cup 2024, which is set to begin on June 1 in the United States.
Rohit Sharma will lead India in the World Cup while all-rounder Hardik Pandya will be his deputy. Both players played together for Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 but things didn’t go too well for the franchise, both on and off the field.
Sharma was removed as skipper before the tournament and Pandya was named his successor. The decision wasn’t welcomed by fans as the all-rounder was booed at multiple stadiums including at Wankhede.
Harbhajan has urged Sharma and Pandya to leave their MI rift behind and stay together for India as there will be no room for error or mistakes in the World Cup since India are on an 11-year ICC trophy drought.
"It looked like they [MI] were not playing together as a team. So there was a lot going on. Hardik wasn't a free man in the last two months. I believe both of them and many others who have played in different teams will have to come together to do something special for the nation," Harbhajan said to Press Trust of India (PTI).
"Winning a World Cup is a bigger achievement than winning an IPL trophy, so I would urge the management to bring everyone together, have them on one page and make sure they play like one. I believe it's the responsibility of the management to come together, and win together. Even if they lose they should be losing together," Harbhajan added.
India’s Squad for World Cup
Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Siraj.
Reserves: Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Khaleel Ahmed and Avesh Khan.
India's Schedule for World Cup
India vs Ireland — June 5 in New York
India vs Pakistan —June 9 in New York
India vs USA — June 12 in New York
India vs Canada — June 15 in Lauderhill
- Harbhajan Singh
