"With Virat Kohli's fitness, you can see him competing for five years" - Harbhajan Singh
Former Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh predicted ace batter Virat Kohli to compete at a high level for another five years. At 35, Kohli is still going strong, finishing as the leading run-scorer in IPL 2024 and won the Player of the Tournament in the recent T20 World Cup final.
Harbhajan also feels Indian skipper Rohit Sharma could play for another two years despite being 37.
In an interview with the PTI, he said:
"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."
While the duo retired from T20Is after the World Cup win in the West Indies, they remain the focal point of the Indian batting lineup in the other two formats.
"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 its 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.
However, the former World Cup winner added that youngsters generally possess more hunger and drive than the senior players.
"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 be in action for India next when they take on Bangladesh in the home Test series, starting September 19.
"Not seen a single ball of cricket during the India versus Sri Lanka series because I was watching only the Olympics" - Harbhajan Singh
Harbhajan Singh admitted not watching India's recent tour of Sri Lanka with the 2024 Olympics happening in parallel.
After winning the T20I series by a 3-0 margin, the Men in Blue suffered a shocking 0-2 defeat in the ODIs, their first in 27 years to Sri Lanka in a bilateral series.
When asked about India's surprising loss, Harbhajan said:
"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."
India's batting let them down in all three matches as they failed to chase sub-250 totals on all three occasions.
The Sri Lankan tour was also Gautam Gambhir's first assignment as India's head coach.