Harbhajan Singh feels India lost the first Test against South Africa because of Cheteshwar Pujara’s absence from the team. He questioned the selectors for leaving out top performers like Ajinkya Rahane and Pujara.
Bhajji’s reaction came after South Africa defeated the Rohit Sharma-led team by an innings and 32 runs in Centurion. The host needed just one innings to get better of India.
“We didn’t select Ajinkya Rahane for the series and Cheteshwar Pujara was left out for no reason. Pujara has been a classy batter over the years and his contribution are equal to Virat Kohli’s performance in Test cricket. Pujara is the best Indian batter in Test cricket and we don’t have anyone like him. He takes time to score runs but saves you from defeats. It was his batting that led India to wins in Australia and England,” Harbhajan Singh said.
India’s first innings ended any hope of a win, says Harbhajan Singh
Harbhajan said Indians’ first innings ended any chance of a winning the game as 245 were not sufficient to put South Africa on the backfoot.
“India were never in the game. They scored just 245 runs in the first innings after losing the toss. It was never going to be enough and that’s what happened in the end. The match finished in three days. India scored 131 in the second innings and if we remove Virat Kohli’s contribution, there is nothing to talk about,” he added.
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