Harbhajan insisted that if he had received support in 2012, he would've ended up with “500-550” wickets in Test cricket.
Veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh on Friday announced his retirement from all forms of cricket, ending his 23-year long career. Harbhajan made his India debut in 1998 and represented India for 18 years, appearing in 103 Tests, 236 ODIs and 28 T20Is. The off-spinner was also a part of India's winning team in the 2007 T20 World Cup and 2011 ODI World Cup.
Harbhajan faced inconsistencies in his performances after the 2011 World Cup win, when he was dropped from the ODI and Test squads for the first time in the second half of the year. He was recalled to the squad for home series against Australia and England in 2012, but was dropped again after indifferent performances. The off-spinner continued to perform selectively and eventually played his last match for India in 2016.
In an interview after his retirement, Harbhajan has now insisted that had he been supported in 2012, he would have picked up "500-550" wickets in Test cricket.
"It's always nice to have that support. I would say if I had got the support at the right time, I would have retired after 500-550 wickets very early because I was 31 when I reached the 400-wicket mark. Had I played for 3-4 more years, I would have reached 500 wickets, but that did not happen,” Harbhajan told Dainik Jagran.
The former off-spinner further said that if a player needs support even after taking more than 400 wickets, there is a need to introspect in his treatment.
“There were many reasons and if I looked at them, we would probably have lost a lot of things. I have never felt the need for support after 2001-02; After taking 400 wickets, I needed support and if any player needs him after reaching that stage, I don't know how we take care of our players. There comes a time when you need to respect your players as they deserve. But this decision rests with a certain group of people,” said Harbhajan.
"However, I would like to say after the support I got from Sourav Ganguly in 2001-02, I never needed it again. But I needed the support in 2012 and if I had got it, my career would have been even better and I Retired long back after 550 wickets.