As India prepares for a fresh chapter in Test cricket, former spinner Harbhajan Singh has encouraged the team to embrace the upcoming five-match Test series in England with confidence and boldness. Speaking at the launch of the Vidarbha Cricket League in Nagpur, Harbhajan stressed that India’s success overseas would depend more on mindset than just skill.
“𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒊𝒕𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓𝒔 — 𝑺𝒉𝒖𝒃𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝑮𝒊𝒍𝒍, 𝑹𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒃𝒉 𝑷𝒂𝒏𝒕 — 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝑨𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒂. 𝑰𝒕’𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒎𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏,” 𝑯𝒂𝒓𝒃𝒉𝒂𝒋𝒂𝒏 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅.
A New-Look Squad Steps Up
India’s squad for the England series represents a generational transition, with Shubman Gill leading the team for the first time at age 25 and Rishabh Pant named vice-captain. Veterans like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and R Ashwin have stepped away from the format, leaving a youthful 18-member squad to carry the torch.
Harbhajan acknowledged the challenge of this transition but expressed confidence in the players’ abilities:
“𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆’𝒔 𝒏𝒐 𝑹𝒐𝒉𝒊𝒕, 𝑲𝒐𝒉𝒍𝒊, 𝒐𝒓 𝑹𝒂𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒆, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝑰 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒈𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒑 𝒖𝒑. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒔 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆, 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒇𝒂𝒏𝒔.”
He also pointed out that Jasprit Bumrah was considered for captaincy but was ruled out due to workload management, as per chief selector Ajit Agarkar.
Harbhajan on Shreyas Iyer and No. 3 Spot
The exclusion of Shreyas Iyer stirred debate among fans and former cricketers. Harbhajan joined the conversation, defending Iyer’s credentials.
“𝑺𝒉𝒓𝒆𝒚𝒂𝒔 𝑰𝒚𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒒𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓. 𝑯𝒆’𝒔 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒄𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒔 — 𝑾𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅 𝑪𝒖𝒑, 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒎𝒑𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝑻𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒉𝒚, 𝑰𝑷𝑳. 𝑰 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅’𝒗𝒆 𝒑𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒊𝒇 𝑰 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂 𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒓,” 𝑯𝒂𝒓𝒃𝒉𝒂𝒋𝒂𝒏 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅. “𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒓𝒐𝒂𝒅. 𝑯𝒊𝒔 𝒇𝒖𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕; 𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂 𝒊𝒏 𝑶𝑫𝑰𝒔 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒚.”
When discussing India’s batting order for the series, Harbhajan offered his choice for the vital No. 3 position:
“𝑺𝒂𝒊 𝑺𝒖𝒅𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒔𝒂𝒏 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒃𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒕 𝑵𝒐.3. 𝑯𝒆’𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎, 𝒍𝒆𝒇𝒕-𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒅, 𝒕𝒆𝒄𝒉𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒊𝒅, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒍𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒂 𝒇𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒄 𝑰𝑷𝑳.”
The squad also includes debutants Arshdeep Singh and Sudharsan, while Karun Nair and Shardul Thakur return. Mohammed Shami joins Iyer in missing out.
Backing the Vidarbha Cricket League
Harbhajan also celebrated the launch of the Vidarbha Cricket League, praising its role in developing young cricketers.
“𝑽𝒊𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒃𝒉𝒂 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐𝒑 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒘𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑹𝒂𝒏𝒋𝒊 𝑻𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒉𝒚. 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒈𝒖𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒖𝒏𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒙𝒕 𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏. 𝑰’𝒎 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒏𝒖𝒓𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒕𝒔 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒕,” 𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒅.
India’s five-match series against England begins on June 20 at Headingley, and also marks the start of their 2025–27 World Test Championship cycle.
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