Kohli, who made his debut during a five-match ODI series against Sri Lanka in 2008, has gone on to establish himself as one of the greatest batters in cricket history. Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh recently revealed how he backed and motivated star batter Virat Kohli to surpass former India captain Rahul Dravid ‘s tally of international runs. the right-hander has broken numerous records across all formats and is currently the second-highest run-scorer in international cricket Although he now plays only ODIs for India.
I remember in 2008 he immediately scored a half-century when Ajantha Mendis was unplayable. During that series against Sri Lanka, Kohli scored 159 runs in five matches, including a half-century in the fourth ODI. India went on to win the series 3-2.
Speaking about Kohli’s debut, Harbhajan said he immediately recognised the youngster’s exceptional talent and believed he had the potential to overtake Dravid’s international run tally one day. At that time, I told him that if he didn’t break Rahul Dravid’s numbers, he wouldn’t have justified his talent. His hunger and desire to win were different,” said Harbhajan on Prakhar Gupta podcast.
“He had a lot of talent, but I wasn’t sure he would do what he has gone on to do. There was a huge change in Kohli in just two years.
Kohli will now feature in the upcoming five-match series against New Zealand, kick-starting from November 4.
He’s so passionate, and that’s the difference between him and everyone else,” said Harbhajan. “The improvement in fitness levels in Indian cricket should be credited fully to Kohli. No one takes Indian cricket’s fielding lightly anymore, and that’s a credit to Virat Kohli and his team. He changed the entire system of fitness. And his hunger is still the same: to be the one to win the match for India.
