A former Indian off-spinner, Harbhajan Singh predicted ace batter, Virat Kohli to perform at a top level for the next five years. Kohli at 35 is still going strong and he was the highest run-scorer in the IPL 2024 and he also bagged the title of Player of the Tournament in the recent T20 World Cup final.
Despite being 37 years old, Harbhajan also feels that Indian Captain Rohit Sharma could play for another two years. He said this in a PTI interview:
“Rohit can easily play for two more years. You never know with Virat Kohli’s fitness, you can see him competing for five years. He is probably the fittest guy in the team. You ask any 19-year-old competing with Virat.”
“Virat will beat him. He is that fit. I believe Virat and Rohit have a lot of cricket left in them and it is entirely up to them. If they are fit enough, they are performing and the team is winning, they should continue to play.”
Despite the fact that the pair hung up their boots from T20 internationals following the World Cup triumph in West Indies, they still continue to be key figures in Indian batting order for other two types of cricket.
“Red ball cricket, you really need these two guys to play a little bit more than what people are asking. You need experience in all formats whether it’s limited overs cricket and Test cricket.”
“You need experienced cricketers to nurture the talent that is coming up. And if they are not contributing in any manner, whether its fitness or number of runs, then the time has come. They should be making way for the youngsters,” added Harbhajan.
Nevertheless, the previous victor of the global cup noted that young people often have greater enthusiasm and determination compared to older teammates.
“I always believe that youngsters have much more hunger than the seniors. If you play for 15 years your hunger a little bit comes down. Great to see Riyan Parag getting the opportunities and the way Yashasvi Jaiswal is coming up and Shubman Gill is playing,” stated Harbhajan.
Kohli and Rohit will next play for India in the home Test series against Bangladesh, beginning on September 19.
“I missed the India-Sri Lanka series because I was focused on the Olympics”- Harbhajan Singh
In the midst of his 2024 Olympics training, Harbhajan Singh did not follow India’s recent tour of Sri Lanka. The Men in Blue won the T20I series 3-0 before suffering a shattering loss of 0-2 in ODIs, which was their first loss to Sri Lanka in a bilateral series for the past 27 years.
When questioned about this surprising loss by India, Harbhajan stated
“To be honest, I have not seen a single ball of cricket during the India versus Sri Lanka series because I was watching only the Olympics. When the Olympics are on, you don’t take your eyes off it. It was one of those things. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose it. It’s sports after all. All cricketers go through these periods. You play well but you still don’t win.”
Batting by Indian team was a let-down for them in three matches where they could not achieve less than 250 runs target on these occasions. The Sri Lankan tour was also the beginning of Gautam Gambhir as the coach for Indian team.
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