"I thought India will win easily against the West Indies" - Harbhajan Singh shocked with the Men in Blue's recent performancesÂ
Former Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has admitted to being shocked by the Men in Blue's recent performance against West Indies. The Hardik Pandya-led side lost the five-match T20I series by a 3-2 margin, marking India's first loss in a bilateral affair against the Windies since 2006.
Team India struggled on slow surfaces to go 0-2 down but managed to fight their way back to 2-2, sending the series into a decider. However, West Indies prevailed in the final match at the Central Broward Regional Park Stadium in Lauderhill, Florida, to wrap up the proceedings.
Harbhajan stated that the recent series defeat is cause for concern for India and a huge reality check.
"I thought India will win easily against the West Indies, but the results have shocked and troubled several people. Even I was surprised that West Indies, a team that could not qualify for the World Cup, defeated India. It is a great accomplishment for the West Indies, but certainly troubling for Team India," he said on his YouTube channel.
"Even though it was a second-string team without Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, this should not have happened. The young brigade that toured, will have to learn a lot from this and move forward in their journey," Harnhajan added.
Tilak Varma and Yashasvi Jaiswal's maiden international tour and Kuldeep Yadav's form were some of the slight positives from the recently concluded T20I series against the Windies. However, Hardik Pandya's captaincy, Yuzvendra Chahal, and Arshdeep Singh's bowling along with the displays by the top-order batters were criticized by fans and pundits alike.
"India is certainly capable of fielding three different teams" - Harbhajan Singh
Team India's impressive bench strength, courtesy of a robust domestic system as well as the Indian Premier League (IPL), has led to a lot of competition for spots in the playing XI. However, the increased workload across formats has also led to India fielding second-string squads on multiple occasions.
Harbhajan Singh opined that it will be a while before the bench players can string together a set of results.
"India is certainly capable of fielding three different teams, but it will take a while for the results to come. I hope that things are better from here onwards," he opined.
Even in the upcoming T20I series against Ireland and the 2023 Asian Games, Team India are planning to field a second-string squad, with the primary focus currently on the Asia Cup and the World Cup.