Harbhajan Singh with Gautam Gambhir in Mumbai in 2012. Image Credits: afp.com
A lot is happening behind the curtains in Indian Cricket with the Indian Premier League (IPL 2026) becoming the talking point of the summer. Earlier in the month, India were crowned the T20 World Champions for the second successive time, with Gautam Gambhir at the helm. Now, reportedly, veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh is set to join as a key figure in Indian Cricket.
Under Gautam Gambhir's stint as Head Coach, India have won back-to-back ICC titles, starting with the 2025 Champions Trophy and culminating in the recent triumph in the 2026 T20 World Cup. However, despite his impeccable numbers, Gambhir has been under scrutiny because of the Indian team's under-par performances in the Test format.
Harbhajan Singh contracted by BCCI for CoE
As per a latest development by Mumbai Mirror, the BCCI is going to link up with the off-spin great Harbhajan Singh to work Centre of Excellence's Head VVS Laxman. Bhajji will serve a four-day camp with three of India’s next bunch of finger-spinners, Tanush Kotian, Himanshu Singh and Mohit Redkar, starting from March 23.
Interestingly, two of them are off-spinners and represent Mumbai in domestic cricket, while Redkar represents Goa. While Kotain has already played in the IPL and received his maiden India call-up last season, Singh and Redkar are upcoming names with little First-Class cricket experience.
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"There will be fitness tests in the first couple of days, after which the camp will begin on March 23," a source said as quoted in the report.
With the Indian Test team performing poorly in the South Africa, Australia and New Zealand series, the BCCI are looking to nurture the next crop of bowlers, especially the end of the Ravi Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja era. Although Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel and Washington Sundar are still in the picture, the team management wants a traditional off-spinner.
Why was Zaheer Khan roped by BCCI?
To overcome the shortcomings in the longest format, the BCCI decided, earlier in the month, to contract former left-arm pacer, Zaheer Khan, to train the upcoming crop of the Indian seamers.
Apart from the spinners, India need to unearth quality pacers as well, with Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Siraj the only quality options in the current set-up.
"A batch of fast bowlers have been called up from state associations for a special fast-bowling camp from February 28-March 2 at CoE in Bengaluru under the tutelage of Zaheer. Head of Cricket at CoE VVS Laxman has taken keen interest in this initiative," a source had told TOI after Zaheer Khan's appointment.
India's fate in WTC 2025/27
In the current World Test Championship (WTC 2025/27) cycle, India have played three series, nine Test matches, and won four games. However, they are crawling in the bottom half of the WTC points table, with 48.15% sitting at sixth place.
The Shubman Gill and Gautam Gambhir-led side will next be seen in action in Tests during the Sri Lanka tour in August later this year. The next two WTC assignments will be against New Zealand (away) and Australia (home).
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