Legendary Indian national cricket team pacer Harbhajan Singh has issued a bold directive to Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah to participate in the upcoming Duleep Trophy 2024.

On August 14, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the squads for the 2024 Duleep Trophy. The competition is scheduled to begin on September 5 at Anantapur in Andhra Pradesh and the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

Shubman Gill, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Shreyas Iyer have been named as captains of India A, B, C and D teams respectively. Star players like KL Rahul, Kuldeep Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Suryakumar Yadav, Arshdeep Singh and Axar Patel are also set to feature in the competition.

Mohammed Siraj and Ravindra Jadeja were also included in the B squad by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for the tournament but were later dropped from the squad. The board revealed that the star player is suffering from illness while no reason was given behind Jadeja’s removal from the squad.

Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah were also expected to make their sensational comeback to domestic cricket but were not named in any of the squads. Later, BCCI secretary and newly elected ICC president Jay Shah said that veterans are at risk of injury which is why they were not told to take part in the Duleep Trophy.

Since then, the likes of Sanjay Manjrekar and Suresh Raina have called for Rohit, Kohli and Bumrah to take part in the competition, with the latest to join the initiative being Harbhajan Singh.

It would be great if they (Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah) played in the Duleep Trophy – Harbhajan Singh

In a conversation with Sports Tak, Harbhajan Singh shared his candid opinion on the matter. He said that it would be a big boost for the domestic tournament if Rohit, Kohli and Bumrah participated in it.

Harbhajan Singh opined that the participation of the superstars will motivate other players and was hopeful that they will soon take part in domestic cricket.

“It would be fantastic if they (Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah) play in the Duleep Trophy 2024. When a great player participates in such tournaments, it motivates other players who play alongside him.

“These players can improve (Char Chand lag jayenge). However, it is up to them to decide whether they play or not. I hope they take part in domestic cricket,” Harbhajan Singh was quoted as saying by Sports Tak.

Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli’s last appearance in competitive cricket was in the three-match ODI series away from home against Sri Lanka. In that series, Rohit Sharma looked great with the bat but Virat Kohli failed miserably and India lost by a 0-2 margin.

Meanwhile, Jasprit Bumrah was last seen in action in the 2024 T20 World Cup and has since been given an extended break. The trio is all set to return to action in the home Test series against the Bangladesh National Cricket Team in September.