Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh has once again garnered attention by his remarks towards his former teammate and India skipper MS Dhoni. The ex-wicketkeeper batter of the Indian team was handed over the reins of the side at a relatively younger age of 26. At that time, he was entrusted with the role over seniors such as Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh and Virender Sehwag.
Over the years, various reports have surfaced claiming that this caused rifts among players. However, former spinner Singh has categorically denied any friction, but has time and again given indirect remarks about the legendary cricketer. Though Dhoni being appointed as the skipper eventually paid dividends as he led the side to three ICC trophies, including the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007, the 50-over World Cup in 2011 and the Champions Trophy in 2013.
Harbhajan Singh reveals why senior players didn’t get affected despite younger Dhoni taking over captaincy
Recently, Singh revealed why MS Dhoni’s recruitment as the captain of the Indian team didn’t affect the senior players. He said, “Dada (Sourav Ganguly) brought in the players and made the team… the likes of myself, Zaheer Khan, Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag. Dhoni had a set team of experienced players who had played together for seven or eight years,” he said.
“We never had an issue with Dhoni becoming the captain despite being so young. We understood the captain wasn’t everything, and all 11 players had to do well for Dhoni to look good as captain. For Dhoni to be successful, it had to be a combined effort,” he added.
“Dhoni’s best quality is that he never imposed himself on the individuals by telling them what to do. He knew that many of us had played for several years and were aware of what needed to be done in different situations. Dhoni only focused on how to get the best out of the players, which he was exceptional at,” Singh went on to say.
