Harbhajan Singh has revealed that his removal from the National Cricket Academy in 2000 happened because he tore a diet chart after repeated complaints about food quality went unheard. Speaking to CricketNext, the former India off-spinner said it was not his fault and described it as standing up for players’ rights.
“I was removed from NCA, and it wasn’t my mistake. I say this openly even now. The food wasn’t good there and back in the day. The rules were such that the cricketers were taught a lot. A chart was put up for the diet, but we weren’t getting what was mentioned on the chart. Despite repeated complaints, the quality of food didn’t improve, so one day I tore up that chart, and that was my only mistake.”
Harbhajan Singh, CricketNext interview, August 2026
Harbhajan was part of the NCA’s first batch of 24 trainees in Bengaluru, coached by EAS Prasanna and Srinivas Venkataraghavan under director Hanumant Singh. He was not the only one removed. Three players were expelled from that first batch: Harbhajan, Bengal opener Nikhil Haldipur, and left-arm spinner Murali Karthik. Karthik later said his departure was injury-related, not disciplinary.
Harbhajan also claimed his protest forced a change in the academy’s diet plan.
“The plan changed and was removed, and some in the Indian cricket board didn’t want people standing up to them.”
Harbhajan Singh, CricketNext interview, August 2026
View this post on Instagram
What the NCA Officially Said in 2000
Harbhajan’s version now is different from what was recorded at the time. In June 2000, Tribune India reported that he and Haldipur were released for “falling short in the requirements of discipline and punctuality.” NCA committee chairman Raj Singh Dungarpur publicly backed the decision.
“Discipline is very important and we at the NCA believe that an example has to be set.”
Raj Singh Dungarpur, NCA committee chairman, Bangalore, 2000
Harbhajan’s Indian Airlines sponsorship was also reviewed as a consequence. He had earlier admitted being at fault at that stage of his career, a position that does not match his 2026 claim that “it was not my mistake.”
Insider Read:
When a new institution needs to prove it can enforce standards, the most prominent name in the room becomes the example. The NCA in 2000 was weeks old. Harbhajan had 8 Tests and 21 wickets before he walked into that camp. Being told what to eat and how to train by coaches from a previous generation, in a facility still finding its feet, created friction that went deeper than food. The Centre of Excellence the NCA later became had decades of credibility behind it. In 2000, the NCA had none. Harbhajan, the most prominent name in that first batch, gave them the opportunity to set a precedent.
The cost was real. Harbhajan was off selectors’ radar for nearly a year. He missed selection for Tests against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe despite Anil Kumble being injured. It took Sourav Ganguly pushing the selectors to bring him back for the 2001 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, where Harbhajan took 32 wickets in three Tests and became the first Indian to take a Test hat-trick.
Whatever the full truth behind Harbhajan Singh’s NCA expulsion, a 20-year-old’s protest nearly cost Indian cricket one of its greatest match-winners.
Sources:
Harbhajan Singh, CricketNext, August 2026
Also Read:
