People are going overboard in criticising Rohit: Harbhajan

NEW DELHI: Rohit Sharma needs all the support from the Indian cricket establishment in the coming times as people are going “overboard” with their criticism of his captaincy, feels spin great Harbhajan Singh.

In recent weeks, the Indian captain has received a lot of flak from fans and former cricketers, including the legendary Sunil Gavaskar, who felt that his leadership in the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia was not up to the mark.

However, Harbhajan, who has seen a lot of Rohit in the Indian as well as the Mumbai Indians dressing room, reminded everyone about the kind of respect he commands from his peers. “I find that people are going a bit overboard... the way Rohit has been criticised. Cricket is a team sport and one individual cannot take you from one place to another,” Harbhajan said in an interview ahead of India’s next Test assignment against the West Indies.

“Team India didn’t do well in WTC final, and yes, you talk about that performance and move on from there. But it is unfair to criticise Rohit alone, that he is not scoring runs, putting on weight, not captaining well. I think he is a brilliant leader,” the veteran of 103 Tests said. For Harbhajan, the need of the hour is to show faith in Rohit’s leadership ability. “I have played with him (Rohit) and watched him closely. He commands a lot of respect not only in MI dressing room but also in the Indian dressing room. So, I think it’s unfair to judge him on basis of recent results.

“He will come good and we need to show faith in him and we need to support him rather than pinpointing that you are not doing this or that.”