India cricketer Harbhajan Singh revealed some of the darkest moments in his career, including the time he contemplated quitting the Indian team in 2007, as he opened up to former player Aakash Chopra during an interview.
Harbhajan spoke about his career, memorable moments and also about the lowest point in his career in a candid chat that was posted on Chopra’s YouTube channel, in a segment called ‘Aakash Vani’.
When Chopra asked about the controversies that plagued the off-spinner during the 2000s, including the ‘Monkeygate’ scandal, Harbhajan opened up and talked about his career’s lowest point, which came during the 2007 World Cup when India was coached by Greg Chappell.
“When Greg Chappell took over, I don’t know with what motive he came to coach the team. We had a great team. No one knows how to mess up a great team better than him. God only knows what his motive was. He had the entire press under his thumb. He would make them write whatever he wanted, he would do whatever he wanted. The 2007 World Cup proved to be one of the lowest period of my cricketing career,” Harbhajan said.
India were eliminated in the first round of the 50-over World Cup in 2007 after their loss to Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
“I even thought the team was going through such a terrible phase and it was not the right time to play for India,” he added.
“The wrong people were in charge of Indian cricket. These people have come to ruin Indian cricket. Who is Greg Chappell? Why is he doing such things? He was playing politics, trying to divide the team. I don’t know what his motive was,” Harbhajan said.
The veteran off-spinner went on to say that the team that went to the West Indies for the World Cup in 2007 was an outstanding team. The only reason India didn’t do well was because of the atmosphere Chappell created among players who didn’t believe in each other. If the team is not happy, you won’t get the desired results. That’s what happened,” he said.
Harbhajan recalled that India lost to Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, not top teams like Australia and South Africa. “Sri Lanka played the final, but our team was just as good. But that was the lowest point for me.”
However, things changed when India won the inaugural T20 World Cup in South Africa that year after defeating Pakistan in the final.
“Everything changed for us. We were in the limelight again. We were playing for India again. Greg Chappell was gone. Our Indian coaches Lalchand Rajput, Venkatesh Prasad, Robin (Singh), they worked hard with the team. The atmosphere had changed for the better, and the team was winning again,” Harbhajan recalled.
“Rohit Sharma, Robin Uthappa and Joginder Sharma were fairly new players. Me, Yuvraj (Singh), Viru (Virender Sehwag) and Ajit (Agarkar) were the only ones who were experienced. No one thought we could be the world champions. We became world champions because the atmosphere was better,” Harbhajan said.
