Where is Shami? Harbhajan asks as Gambhir’s Team India continue to sideline ace pacer

Harbhajan Singh has questioned the rationale behind sidelining Mohammed Shami as India's pace attack failed to prove effective in the 4-wicket defeat to South Africa in the second ODI in Raipur earlier this week.

The former ace spinner addressed the continued absence of Shami in his review of the match on his YouTube channel. "Where is Shami? Where is Shami? I don't know why Shami is not playing," Harbhajan said when his co-host asked if Team India was too reliant on Jasprit Bumrah.

Without Bumrah, Gautam Gambhir’s pace attack in the ODI series comprises Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna and Harshit Rana.

"Prasidh Krishna is a good bowler, but he has a lot to learn. You already have a good bowler (Shami), but you have slowly, slowly sidelined him," Harbhajan said.

Shami last played for Team India in the Champions Trophy that ended with a 4-wicket win over New Zealand on March 9. The 35-year-old finished as the joint-second-most wicket-taker with nine scalps, sharing the position with spinner Varun Chakravarthy. Matt Henry of New Zealand had 10 wickets.

"Without Bumrah, it is a different bowling attack altogether. We have to kind of learn the art to win games without Bumrah. We did well in England (Test series) with Siraj doing a fantastic job. But in shorter format also we need to find players who can win you matches on their own," Harbhajan said.

Shami has been vocal about his repeated omission from the squad. Meanwhile, the right-arm pacer has been bagging wickets for Bengal in domestic cricket. On Friday, Shami bagged 4/13 to help Bengal defeat Services by seven wickets.