Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh has urged the BCCI to end the "superstar culture" in the team and pick players for future assignments solely on the basis of performance and not on reputation. Harbhajan's stinging remarks came after India's 1-3 Test series defeat to Australia for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the first time in a decade. Harbhajan said the struggling players should play some form of cricket and prove themselves if they wish to be picked for the England Test tour.
"It should be based on performance only, whether it is Virat, Rohit or anyone. No player is bigger than the game, even if he thinks in his mind that he is a big superstar. If we have to take Indian cricket forward, we have to ask tough questions.
"I am not saying that you should drop them but if you take them on tour, they (struggling players) should play some form of cricket whether county cricket or something before England tour," he added.
Harbhajan has asked the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee to "wake up" and take decisions that would benefit Indian cricket.
"This will be a challenge for the selectors, but it's time for selectors to wake up and take some action.
"I don't say that any player be dropped, and unnecessarily start chopping and dropping but at least there should be a procedure as to who will get how many chances and for how long, because in India there is a long queue of talents."
He also spoke about Kohli's struggles in the past few years.
"Virat has played 11 Tests in 2024 and scored 440 runs. The average is 23.15, with one hundred and one fifty. Such an average may be unheard of because he is a very big name. This stat is obviously very low. When I saw it, it was a shocking stat for me too.
"If you give a youngster an opportunity, I feel he will also be able to do this much (match the stats of Kohli)." H