'Didn't CSK win IPL 2021 batting first': Harbhajan Singh criticises India's bowling coach over 'toss' excuse

Veteran Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh has criticised Team India's bowling coach Bharat Arun over his remarks on the toss being one of the reasons behind the team's failure in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2021. India were knocked out of the tournament on Sunday (November 07) after Afghanistan's 8-wicket defeat at the hands of New Zealand in Abu Dhabi.

New Zealand became the second team from Group 2 to qualify for the semis with eight points from five matches. Harbhajan said the Indian team management should accept the fact that the team didn't play as well as they should have and failed to live up to the expectations in the tournament.

India lost their opening game against arch-rivals Pakistan by ten wickets before getting thrashed by New Zealand by eight wickets in their next game. The consecutive defeats in their first two matches did enough damage as India eventually bowed out of the competition even before they could have taken the field in their last Super 12 game against Namibia.

Talking about India's poor show in the tournament, the team's bowling coach Bharat Arun had earlier blamed the toss and the pitches in Dubai for India's lacklustre performances. Arun had claimed batting second was not easy on the Dubai track which cost India in the tournament.

"I am not trying to give any excuses but I think in this World Cup the trend has been the team that wins the toss has a big advantage especially when you are in playing in Dubai. The wicket kind of eases out when you come out to bowl the second time. These are no excuses. We should have done better, we should have batted better. In the first match, we had the chance to defend a good total, but we looked a little below par," bowling coach Arun said during the pre-match presser ahead of India's game against Namibia.

Reacting to Arun's remarks, Harbhajan cited the example of MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings, who won the final of IPL 2021 after batting first against Kolkata Knight Riders in Dubai. CSK had posted a big total of 192 runs on the board, batting first and restricted Kolkata Knight Riders on 165 runs to win the game comfortably by 27 runs and lift their 4th IPL trophy.

“I heard Bharat Arun saying that had India won the toss, they could have done this and done that. All that is up for a later discussion. If you had thought that you wanted to bowl first or bat first, well didn’t Chennai Super Kings win the IPL after batting first? They did score 190, so you have to make runs. Let us accept the fact that we didn’t play well as we should have and we did not live up to expectations,” Harbhajan was quoted as saying by India Today.

India will play Namibia in their final Super 12 game on Monday before heading home from the T20 World Cup 2021. It will be a dead-rubber for both sides with Pakistan and New Zealand already in the semis from Group 2.