Harbhajan Singh on Champions Trophy playing 11: Champions Trophy 2025 is going to start from 19th February, Board of Control for Cricket in India i.e. BCCI has also announced the Indian team for this ICC event. The board has selected Shubman Gill as Rohit Sharma’s deputy i.e. vice-captain of the team, who can also take command of the team in future. However, former Team India cricketer and current expert Harbhajan Singh believes that Team India has complicated the playing eleven by making Gill the vice-captain. Bhajji wanted Yashasvi Jaiswal in the team at any cost, but after Gill became the vice-captain, it has become difficult for him to play.
It should be used when a person is in form
Harbhajan Singh said on his YouTube channel, ‘The problem is that now it will be difficult to include Yashasvi Jaiswal in the playing eleven, because Shubman Gill is your vice-captain. If Gill is the vice-captain then he will open. Now it cannot be said that if Yashasvi plays at the top then Gill will play at number three, if Gill plays at number three then Virat Kohli will come at number four. So where will Shreyas Iyer play? This sequence has derailed the train. I think Yashasvi should be played because when someone is in form, he should be used.
Iyer is the best middle order player
When Bhajji was asked whether Jaiswal could remove Shreyas Iyer, he clearly refused. Harbhajan Singh described Iyer as the best player in the middle order and said that it is impossible to get him out. Shreyas Iyer averages 47-48, this guy deserves it… He scored 300 runs in the World Cup. Now you say bring him into the team but don’t let him play… There is probably no better player in the middle order who knows how to make a game. I believe that Yashasvi Jaiswal should play, now he has created a dilemma as to how to play him.
If Gill had not become the vice-captain, Jaiswal would have played.
The former Indian spinner feels that Gill could have been made the vice-captain after the tournament. He said, ‘Had Shubman Gill not been made the vice-captain, Yashasvi Jaiswal would have played. Yashasvi will open with Rohit, Kohli at number three, Iyer at number four and then whatever your batting lineup is. But Gill is the vice-captain now, so I don’t think the vice-captain will ever be dropped. When there is a change after 6-8 months, this responsibility will be handed over to Gill, it is possible that he may even continue in this tournament. I am happy for Gill, but he would have given a lot more if he had played successfully.
