Veteran India cricketers Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli had a tour to forget as both of them gave dismal batting performances throughout the 5 Tests. However, the duo are still expected to be a part of India’s squad for the England Test series which will be played in June due to their ‘superstar’ status.

Harbhajan said that selection for the away series against England should completely be dependent on performances. He even went on to say that if players get picked just because of their reputation, then legendary cricketers like Anil Kumble and Kapil Dev can also find a place in the squad.

“There is a superstar culture which has developed. We don’t need superstars, we need performers. If the team has them (performers), it will move forward. Whoever wants to become a superstar should stay at home and play cricket there,” Harbhajan said on his YouTube channel.

“There is a tour of England coming up. Now everyone has started talking about what will happen in England, who will go, who will not go. For me, it is a simple matter. Only players who are performing should go. You can’t keep picking players on their reputation,” Harbhajan said.

“If you do that, then you should take Kapil Dev sir and Anil bhai also. Here, the BCCI and the selectors will have to be firm and act tough. I don’t think that the superstar attitude is taking the team forward,” Harbhajan further said.

It will be interesting to see whether Rohit and Virat will still feature for the Men in Blue for the England tour or the team will undergo major changes for the important Test series against The Three Lions.

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He played the second Test against Australia in Adelaide. He got sidelined for the third game later on, which led him to make he unexpected decision to hang his boots from international cricket. Ashwin’s departure has left a lot of people making assumptions to what led to his sudden decision.

Ashwin’s sudden retirement did not sit well with another Indian spin legend Anil Kumble, who shared his disappointment with how the legendary spinner decided to announce his retirement. he said that the players who have contributed for such a long period for the team deserves some special sort of farewell.

“Players who have contributed for such a long period deserve a grand farewell. They need to be sat down and offered an appropriate plan on how you want them to leave the game. I was very disappointed with the way Ashwin left. Many cricketers in the past missed out on a farewell, too. The kind of benchmarks he has set won’t be easy for anyone to live up to. He served Indian cricket with distinction,” Kumble told Sports Star.

Ashwin was on verge of surpassing Kumble as India’s leading Test wicket-taker at one point of his career. However, what Ashwin achieved in his career was nothing less than spectacular. He put an end to his career with an impressive total of 537 wickets and 3503 runs in 106 matches.

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Ashwin has secured 537 wickets to his name in 106 matches, which has placed him only behind legendary Indian bowler Anil Kumble who has 619 wickets to his name. Ashwin’s retirement from international cricket is being compared to Anil Kumble’s retirement as there are a few similarities between both of them, which might trigger a sense of Deja-vu to a lot of fans and experts.

The most spoken common thing about both Ashwin and Anil making their retirement is that they played their final test match against Australia itself. Ashwin played his last Test against Australia in Adelaide, whereas Anil played his last Test match in November 2008.

Both the legendary players have put an end to their Test career with more than 500 wickets. Ashwin has 537 wickets in 106 Test matches, whereas Anil Kumble has 619 wickets to his name in 132 matches.

Both Ashwin and Anil announced their decision to retire from Tests after the third Test of the series, and did not get any special sort of farewell. Ashwin bid his farewell after the third Test at Gabba of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25, where he made the announcement after not being included in the playing XI for Gabba Test. Anil, similarly also retired after the third Test of the series against Australia in 2008. Though he had hoped to play the fourth match as well, he had to put an end to his career due to an injury which he could not avoid.

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1. Jasprit Bumrah – 53 wickets

The India pace spearhead has so far played 10 Tests in Australia and has proved to be impressive in almost each and every one of them. Bumrah has so far picked up 3 fifers Down Under and has the best figures of 6/33 on Australian soil.

2. Kapil Dev – 51 wickets

The legendary Indian all-rounder picked up tons of wickets in Tests held in Australia. Kapil played a total of 11 Test matches Down Under and gave great bowling performances in almost every single one of them. Picking up 5 fifers, his best bowling figures on Australian soil are 8/106.

3. Anil Kumble – 49 wickets

The legendary India spinner performed brilliantly on Australian soil despite pitches in the country known to favour the seamers a lot more. Kumble played a total of 10 Tests Down Under and picked up an impressive number of scalps. Picking up 4 fifers, his best figures in Australia are 8/141.

4. Ravichandran Ashwin – 40 wickets

The veteran India spinner has bamboozled batters on Australian soil in many Test series. Ashwin has played a total of 11 Test matches Down Under, picking up a great number of wickets. His best figures in Australia are 4/55.

5. Bishan Singh Bedi – 35 wickets

The former India spinner was especially quite impressive while bowling on the Australian soil. Bedi picked up an highly impressive number of wickets despite only featuring in 7 Tests Down Under. Picking up 3 fifers, his best figures in Australia are 5/55.

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Ashwin retired from the game as the second highest wicket-taker for India in Tests with 537 scalps in 106 games, leaving him only behind Anil Kumble (619 wickets).

While making the shock announcement at the post-match press conference, the India spinner also confirmed that he will continue to play club cricket.

“I won’t take too much of your time. Today will be the last day for me as an India cricketer. This will be my last day as an Indian cricketer at international cricketer. I do feel there is a bit of punch left in me as a cricketer but I would probably try to showcase that in club cricket, but this will be the last day (in international cricket). I have had a lot of fun and I must say I have created a lot of memories, alongside Rohit and other teammates. We are the last bunch of OGs in the dressing room. I have a lot of people to thank… BCCI, my fellow teammates, all the coaches,” Ashwin said.

Earlier during the fifth day of the Test, Ashwin was seen sharing an emotional moment with Virat Kohli. The spinner was seen hugging Kohli in the dressing room which made many fans speculate about his retirement.

It is safe to say that Ashwin’s retirement announcement came as a shock to many many cricket fans all around the world and the 38-year-old has left a massive void to be filled behind by youngsters in the team.

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1. Fastest Indian bowler to reach 350 wickets in Tests

During India’s match against South Africa in 2019 in Visakhapatnam, Ashwin became the fastest Indian bowler and the joint-fastest player alongside Sri Lanka legend Muttiah Muralitharan to clinch 350 wickets in red-ball cricket. The veteran India spinner did so in just 66 Tests.

2. Indian player with most Player of the Series awards in Tests

The 38-year-old won the Player of the Series award in India’s 2-match Test series against Bangladesh in October of this year. This saw him become the player with the joint-most Player of the Series awards alongside Muralitharan with 11 each. He is also the Indian player who has the most of these awards. Second to him is Virender Sehwag with 4 awards.

3. Indian bowler with most fifers in Tests

The 38-year-old is the Indian bowlers with the most 5-wicket hauls in the longest format with 37. Second Indian to him is Anil Kumble with 35 fifers. Ashwin is also the bowler with the joint second-most fifers in Tests as he is level with legendary Australia spinner Shane Warne.

4. Indian bowler with the most Test wickets taken by bowled

The India spinner has taken a total of 109 scalps with bowled in Test cricket. Second to him again is Kumble with 95 Test dismissals in the same way. As a whole, Ashwin is the bowler with fourth-most Test wickets by bowled only behind Muttiah Muralitharan, James Anderson and Shane Warne.

5. Indian bowler with joint-most 10-wicket hauls in Test cricket

The 38-year-old is the Indian bowler with the joint-most 10-wicket hauls in Test cricket alongside Anil Kumble with 8 each. Ashwin made his Test debut back in 2011 and has been a very important player for India since then in the longest format.

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The spinner ends his career with a massive 765 wickets, 537 of which came in red-ball cricket. He ends his career as the second-highest wicket-taker in India’s history only behind legendary spinner Anil Kumble. Ashwin also has an outrageous 37 five-wicket hauls in the longest format.

Not just this, Ashwin also scored a total of 3503 runs in red-ball cricket, scoring 6 centuries and 14 half-centuries. His highest score in the longest format is 124. He has also won an incredible 11 Player of the Series awards in Tests throughout his illustrious career.

In the ongoing series against Australia, Ashwin only participated in the Adelaide Test where he scored a total of 29 runs in the 2 innings and took a wicket as well, giving away 53 runs.

He is one of the 11 all-rounders, who have scored over 3000 runs and taken over 300 wickets in international cricket.

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Then in the 7th over, he also went on to pick the wicket of Marnus Labuschagne to restrict Australia to 16/2. This wicket saw Bumrah become the Indian bowler with the most Test wickets Down Under with 52.

The pacer surpassed legendary India cricketer Kapil Dev, who previously held the record with 51 Test wickets in Australia. Further down the list are spinners Anil Kumble, Ravichandran Ashwin and Bishan Singh Bedi.

Bumrah and Ashwin are the only active Indian bowlers on the list so far. This historic feat has once again cemented Bumrah’s place as one of the modern day greats of Indian cricket.

The India pacer will be looking to add even more wickets to his tally in the upcoming final 2 Tests of the Border-Gavaskar series which will take place in Melbourne and Sydney respectively.

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The Indian cricket team was going to play a practice match against India A but following the Test series whitewash against New Zealand, however the BCCI decided to scrap the encounter.

Kumble believes that the practice match could have been ideal preparation for Rohit Sharma’s side and added that such match practice cannot be achieved with just net sessions.

“I’m a bit surprised that India don’t have a practice match going into the first Test because that would have been an ideal preparation. No matter how much you practice in the nets, going out in the middle and facing a few bowlers in the match is totally different,” Kumble said.

The Indian team have to perform incredibly well against Australia to make it to the World Test Championship (WTC) final. They cannot afford to lose even a single game and would have to beat Australia in 4 matches out of 5, which currently looks nothing short of an impossible task.

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1. Anil Kumble – 8 ten-wicket hauls

The legendary Indian spinner dominated against batting orders throughout his illustrious career. Kumble was especially brilliant in red-ball cricket where he ended up picking 10 or more wickets on 8 occasions, which is the joint-most for an Indian bowler.

2. Ravichandran Ashwin – 8 ten-wicket hauls

The veteran Indian spinner is still going strong as he keeps on racking up wickets in Test cricket. Ashwin has carried India to numerous victories through his bowling and has picked up 10 or more wickets in Test matches on a total of 8 occasions.

3. Harbhajan Singh – 5 ten-wicket hauls

The former Indian spinner was nothing short of a nightmare for the opposing batters, who crumbled in front of him like anything. In Test cricket, Harbhajan picked up 10 or more wickets on a total of 5 occasions.

4. Ravindra Jadeja – 3 ten-wicket hauls

The left-arm Indian spinner is still shining for the Men in Blue in Test cricket. Jadeja recently picked up his third 10-wicket haul in red-ball cricket at the Wankhede stadium against New Zealand to break his tie with 2 other Indian greats.

5. Kapil Dev – 2 ten-wicket hauls

The legendary Indian all-rounder was an absolutely sensational pacer, who was feared by batters around the world during his time. Kapil picked up 10 or more wickets in a Test match on a total of 2 occasions throughout his illustrious career.

6. Irfan Pathan – 2 ten-wicket hauls

The former Indian pacer took tons of wickets especially in the longest format of the game. Pathan led India’s pace line for several years and picked up 10 or more wickets in a Test match on a total of 2 occasions.

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