Former Indian off-spinner and 2011 World Cup winner Harbhajan Singh has launched a scathing attack on chief selector Ajit Agarkar and the team management for “ignoring good bowlers”, and questioned the absence of veteran fast bowler Mohammed Shami amid India’s bowling woes. Shami, 35, who last played for India in the ICC Champions Trophy final in March 2025—in which he took nine wickets—has been overlooked despite stellar domestic performances, including 20-plus Ranji Trophy wickets and a performance of 4/13 in the recent Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
Harbhajan’s outburst came after South Africa made a spectacular chase of 359 runs in the 2nd ODI in Raipur on December 3, 2025—the joint-highest successful chase against India in ODIs—to level the series 1-1 following India’s 17-run win in Ranchi. With Jasprit Bumrah rested, dew helped the chase, with young pacemen Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh and Prasidh Krishna giving away plenty of runs (famously 0-85), while spinners Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja failed to stem the flow of runs in the face of Aiden Markram’s 110 and half-centuries from Matthew Bretzke and Dewald Brewis.
On his YouTube channel, Harbhajan expressed anger, saying: “Where is Shami? I don’t know why Shami is not playing… You had good bowlers, and you have gradually sidelined them. With Bumrah, it is a different bowling attack, and without Bumrah, it is completely different. We have to learn the art of winning matches without Jasprit Bumrah.” Praising Mohammed Siraj’s stellar performance without Bumrah in the England Test, he stressed the importance of producing white-ball match-winners, and suggested bringing Varun Chakravarthy back into ODIs.
Shami being ignored despite proving his fitness in the domestic matches has fueled speculation over workload management or past fitness disputes with the selectors. As the last match of the series in Visakhapatnam on 6th December approaches, Harbhajan’s words make it clear how much India is dependent on Bumrah and how much experienced fast bowlers are lacking in the shorter formats.
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