Former India player Harbhajan Singh has claimed that Hardik Pandya’s bowling and Rishabh Pant’s move to No. 3 are the biggest positives.
Harbhajan Singh made this comment in the context of whether the Indian team is ready for the Super 8s of the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 or not. The former cricketer, who was a crucial part of the Indian team that won the inaugural 2007 T20 World Cup in South Africa, also feels that Hardik Pandya and Rishabh Pant have been the biggest positives in Rohit Sharma’s team.
The Men in Blue qualified for the Super 8 last week after beating co-hosts the United States in their penultimate Group A match in New York. India’s final group match against Canada could not begin due to extreme weather conditions in Florida, but they still qualified for the second round.
Rohit Sharma and Co. will kick off the Super 8s with a clash against Afghanistan on June 20 before taking on Bangladesh and Australia on the 22nd and 24th. The Indians will have to ensure they finish in the top two places to progress to the next round, which will be the semifinals.
Harbhajan Singh greets Jasprit Bumrah
While speaking to Star Sports yesterday, Harbhajan Singh spoke about the positive takeaways from India’s exit in the Group T20 WC stages. Harbhajan started by highlighting that the Indian team has had different heroes in different matches. Jasprit Bumrah, who has already bagged two man-of-the-match awards, was the hero against Ireland and Pakistan.
From his observation, Harbhajan Singh noticed that the Indian players were filled with a different kind of energy as soon as Bumrah removed Mohammad Rizwan. Bhajji admitted that snatching victory from the jaws of defeat against Pakistan was not an easy task and required a lot of effort.
“The positive is the way you save yourself from falling into trouble and difficult situations. On different days, a particular player in the team raised his hand and carried out the job. Bumrah’s spell that day (against Pakistan). Rizwan played “A bad shot that filled the Indian team with positive energy. Taking victory from their jaws was not a common occurrence,” Harbhajan said via Star Sports.
Harbhajan Singh impressed with Pandya and Pant’s comeback
Harbhajan Singh then spoke about the improvement Hardik Pandya made in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024. Harbhajan was happy to see Pandya rise to the occasion, especially with the ball, having come into the WC as a fourth-choice bowler. Lastly, the former player claimed that the gamble Rahul Dravid took by sending Rishabh Pant at number 3 paid off.
“And I think the most positive thing is that Hardik Pandya got those wickets. He came into the tournament as the fourth bowling option, but if you look at his tally, he performed much better than what was expected of him. Then he sent Rishabh Pant to number 3 and changing his role completely. The left-right combination only happens when Rishabh plays at 3. So there are a lot of positives despite the challenges,” concluded Harbhajan Singh.