Yuvraj, Harbhajan made scapegoats: Gavaskar to NDTV

New Delhi:  Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar on Sunday, said that he feels axing Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan for the final Test against England was only part of the solution and that some others who also deserved to be replaced, survived.

Speaking to NDTV on a day which say the hosts crash to England to go 1-2 down in the 4-Test series, Gavaskar said that while he expected Zaheer Khan to be dropped, Yuvraj and Harbhajan were soft targets. "If you ask me, Zaheer's exclusion was expected but I believe that Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh have been made scapegoats," he said. "If you look at Harbhajan's performance in Mumbai, he got to bowl some 20-odd overs (21) and also got two wickets. If India lost in Mumbai, it was a collective failure. Yuvraj also got into 30s. If you want to drop them, then why not some of the others who have also not performed."

The selectors met earlier in the day and brought in spinner Piyush Chawla, Saurashtra batsman Ravindra Jadeja and pacer Parvinder Awana for the final Test. "I think a good idea would have been if chairman of selection committee (Sandip Patil) would have gone to the dressing room and spoken with the players who haven't played some good shots to get out. Also with the bowlers. The defeat should hurt them. But sadly, I saw some of the players joking around and playing football as if nothing has happened. That's not a good attitude."

Gavaskar has repeatedly cautioned against the attitude and the approach of the Indian players and has blamed it for contributing to India's defeats. He however has also said that skipper MS Dhoni does not deserve to be blamed alone. "A captain is as good as his team. I don't think we have any alternative of Dhoni at the moment. If you want to change the captain for the heck of it, then it's different."