'That doesn’t work' -Harbhajan Singh slams Punjab for dropping in-form player

Punjab haven't been at their best in the ongoing Indian T20 league 2022. They have only been able to win three out of their first seven games of this edition. Due to which, they are currently placed eighth on the points table.

Ahead of the start of this season. All the experts perceived Jonny Bairstow to be one of Punjab's key players this time around. Moreover, the franchise spent a huge amount to acquire his services. However, he hasn't been in the best of form in the 2022 edition. The keeper-batter has only been able to score 41 runs in four games.

On the other hand, Bhanuka Rajapaksa had scored 83 runs in three innings at a whopping strike rate of 230.56. However, he had to make way for Jonny Bairstow once the Englishman was available. Hence, Harbhajan Singh has criticized Punjab's management for the same. He felt that they shouldn't have dropped Rajapaksa from the XI.

“You should never drop a player who is in form. When someone is doing well for you and you drop him for Jonny Bairstow only for reputation and assume that he would score big runs, that doesn’t work. Whenever a player is doing well, you need to continue with him even if a senior player is sitting out because you need to think of the team first," said Harbhajan Singh, while speaking to SK straight talk.

In the meanwhile, the legendary offie drew light on Punjab's aggressive brand of cricket. He felt that they needed to find an anchor. While mentioning that Shikhar Dhawan was the only one capable of doing the same, Singh highlighted the importance of singles and doubles.

“Punjab play the brand of cricket where they keep on attacking even if a couple of wickets or three wickets fall in the powerplay. Whenever you lose wickets, there needs to be a partnership through sensible batting, which they aren’t doing at the moment.

Punjab do need to find an anchor for their innings. Shikhar Dhawan can do that role but apart from him, all the other batters look to hit sixes. Don’t forget the basics of the game as even singles and doubles are a part of T20 cricket and not just sixes,” he added.