Harbhajan Singh is expected to announce his retirement from competitive cricket next week: report
New Delhi: Harbhajan Singh, Senior-Off-Spinner of Team India, who last played at the Asia Cup in a T20I for Team India in 2016, will be a key member of the support team in the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2022 next year of a "high profile franchise".
Harbhajan played a few games for the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the first leg of the IPL 2021, but not a single game in the UAE round.
The seasoned weirdo is expected to officially announce his retirement from competitive cricket next week and then decide on one of the offers to join the support team in one of the high profile franchises. When that happens, Harbhajan will retire with over 700 wickets in international cricket.
“The role could be that of a consultant, mentor, or part of the advisory group, but the franchise he speaks to wants to leverage his vast experience. an IPL source who was privy to the development informed PTI that the conditions of anonymity will be respected.
Harbhajan has always shown an interest in training young players and that was his role with the Mumbai Indians in his later years when he was associated with the franchise for a decade. The senior off-spinner had spent a lot of time running Varun Chakraborty while working with KKR over the past year.
Read Here | No Bairstow, Anderson as England names 12-man squad for the first Ashes test
Venkatesh Iyer, who was one of the biggest finds of the IPL last season, had revealed that Harbhajan had told the youngster after a few network sessions that he would be a big hit in the league. Interestingly, Harbhajan had made this big prediction about Iyer even before playing his first game for KKR.
Last season, KKR head coach Brendon McCullum and captain Eoin Morgan followed Harbhajan's advice on team selection. "Look, Harbhajan wanted to officially announce his retirement after the season. He's had lengthy talks with one of the franchises that have shown great interest, but he only wants to talk about it after the deal is officially signed," the source said the news agency PTI.