India will be facing the West Indies in the first Test in Dominica on July 12. In the upcoming series, star India batter Cheteshwar Pujara will be a big miss for Men In Blue. Pujara, who has been phenomenal throughout his career with the bat, has been dropped from the Test squad due to poor performances in recent games.
However, the decision to drop him from the team has not been well received by fans and some former cricketers. The latest to back him is legendary India spinner Harbhajan Singh. Harbhajan, in his recent interview, backed Pujara and said that there are some players on the same team who play like him. He also said that team management needs to respect players like him and address the situation wisely.
“I have a lot of respect for Chesteshwar Pujara for what he has achieved. Pujara has been an unsung hero of the Indian team for many years now. He has been one of those pillars of strength for India, doing the dirty work of hanging in there, making sure other batters got their comfort,” Harbhajan said in an interview with PTI.
“He isn’t the only one not scoring”, says Harbhajan Singh
Further speaking about Cheteshwar Pujara’s performance in the World Test Championship finals and other Test matches, Bhajji said that he is not the only one who is not performing. He also said that Pujara should be given respect. “I believe he needs to be given a bit more respect than what he has been given, and the way he was chucked out of the team was a surprise for me. Because he isn’t the only one not scoring runs. There are others as well who play on that same team and are scoring runs at the same average,” Harbhajan said.
Harbhajan further indirectly compared Pujara’s performance with that of former India skipper Virat Kohli. He said that the rules should be the same for everyone. “I think rules should be the same for everyone, not different for different people. Look, if you want to drop a senior guy like him, talk to him and make him understand, Look, this is what we are looking to do. Tell him what the way forward is; make him understand. All he needs is a bit more respect”, he ended.
