Harbhajan Singh comes down hard on IPL franchises for 'running after' foreign captains, ignoring Indian stars

IPL 2023: Former India cricketer Harbhajan Singh expressed his disappointment on IPL franchises for "running after" big overseas players and appointing them as the captain of the team. Harbhajan has questioned the approach of the franchises for ignoring senior India players for the role.

The statement from Harbhajan came post the IPL 2023 match between Delhi Capitals (DC) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Delhi on Saturday. Harbhajan pointed out that Abhishek Sharma, who smashed match-winning 67 off 36 balls while opening for SRH and picked a wicket as well, should be nurtured for the team's captaincy.

He then pointed out that Delhi and Hyderabad who are reeling at the bottom of the 10-team table (10th and 8th respectively) have overseas captains who have failed miserably. The former off-spinner questioned why senior pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar was not the captain of SRH.

"He (Abhishek) never misses an opportunity when the ball is in his arc, he plays very nice shots. He does not miss on opportunities and he plays the pull shot also nicely. He is a proper player who likes to open," Harbhajan Singh told Star Sports.

"He is playing for Punjab for a long time and he opens there as well. He plays fast bowling nicely and looks imposing on spinners as well after getting set. SRH should prepare him for captaincy.

"Why do we keep running after big names? David Warner is the captain of Delhi, same with SRH. Why is Bhuvneshwar Kumar not the captain?

"This is serious. Will our players get captaincy in BBL. Show me an Indian captain or coach in foreign leagues," he added.

Earlier, cricketer-turned-commentator Aakash Chopra has questioned about the foreign T20 leagues not having any Indian commentators, coaches or analysts in their ecosystem.

"There are some quality Indian coaches in the T20 circuit…the same can be said about the analysts and commentators.

IPL is full of overseas coaches, commentators, pundits but there are no (read negligible) Indians in any of the overseas T20 leagues (BBL, WBBL, The Hundred, CPL etc.)," he had written in a tweet.

"I wonder why? How come India is so welcoming and the same isn’t getting reciprocated elsewhere? Can Nehra not be a coach in BBL? Or Jhulan/Mithali in WBBL? Or does Harsha/Ravi call the BBL?

"Disclaimer: I DO NOT need a job outside of India lest it is seen as a personal wish," he had added.