BCCI should allow Indian players to play in foreign leagues, says Harbhajan Singh
Veteran spinner Harbhajan Singh felt that BCCI should allow Indian players to take part in foreign leagues. He said that those Indian players who are not contracted to the BCCI should stand a chance to seek permission to play in foreign leagues in order to get more exposure.
Harbhajan Singh said on the official YouTube channel of former cricketer Aakash Chopra:
"I think BCCI should allow players to play in foreign leagues. You have to allow non-contracted players whom you are not looking to choose in the Indian side. You have to make a system that players who have played 50 Tests or are above 35 years will seek permission from the board."
If we do not respect our players, nobody will respect them outside: Harbhajan Singh
Harbhajan Singh is one of the few Indian players who has played over 100 Tests in which he has taken 417 Test wickets. The turbanator last played a Test match in 2015 against Sri Lanka.
He has also represented India in 236 ODIs and 28 T20Is, last playing an ODI for India against South Africa in the 2015 series where he picked up six wickets. Harbhaja Singh was subsequently dropped from the team and never played an ODI again. His last international match for India was the T20 game against UAE in the 2016 Asia Cup.
Harbhajan Singh said that for someone who has served his country for so many years and taken wickets in all forms of the game, his exit from cricket should have been handled better.
He felt that along with him, there were many other Indian players like Virendra Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, VVS Laxman who did not quite get the farewell that they deserved. In this regard, Harbhajan Singh hopes that such mistakes do not happen in the future.
"In the last ODI series that I played, I bagged six wickets despite us losing the series. After that, I never played for India. Things were not right for me and I will talk in detail in the future. Players like Virendra Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, VVS Laxman and many more deserved better farewells. If we do not respect our players, nobody will respect them outside. Whatever happened to me, I hope that does not happen to anyone else," Harbhajan Singh concluded.