1 JUNE 2024 Indian cricket team captain Rohit Sharma during the India-Bangladesh 2024 T20 World Cup warm-up match at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York, Saturday, June 1, 2024. India won by 60 runs. (Photo: PTI)
Former India great Harbhajan Singh believes Virat Kohli, with his excellent fitness, can easily survive the rigours of international cricket for another five years, while Test and ODI captain Rohit Sharma will last at least a couple more years.
“Rohit can easily play for two more years. You never know with Virat Kohli’s fitness, he might compete for five years. He is probably the fittest player in the team,” Harbhajan told PTI Videos in an exclusive interview.
“If you ask any 19-year-old competing with Virat (about his fitness), Virat will beat him. He is in very good form. I think Virat and Rohit have a lot of cricket left in them and it is totally up to them. If they are fit enough, perform and the team wins, they should continue to play. It is as simple as that,” said the man with over 700 international wickets.
Harbhajan believes Test cricket is a format where both are needed.
“In red-ball cricket, you really need these two lads to play a bit more than people are asking them to. You need experience across all formats, be it limited-overs cricket or Test cricket. You need experienced cricketers to nurture the talent that is coming through.
“Selectors should keep in mind that if someone is not performing well, they should be dropped, whether it is a senior player or a youth player. But as long as everyone is fit, they should be eligible for the team.”
He added: “And if they are not contributing in any way, whether it is fitness-wise or the number of runs, then the time has come. They should make way for the youngsters.”
“In the end, it’s an individual decision and the selectors are there to look at those steps and see who is capable of playing at what age. Obviously, they take all those factors into account before they choose them.”
Harbhajan believes the youngsters are much hungrier than the older players as they are yet to establish themselves.
“I have always believed that youngsters are much hungrier than older players. If you play for 15 years, your hunger reduces a bit. It is great to see Riyan Parag getting opportunities and the way Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill are growing.”
Harbhajan played down India’s 2-0 defeat to Sri Lanka in the ODIs.
“It was one of those things. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. It’s sport, after all. Every team goes through those periods. You play well, but you still don’t win. I’ll give Sri Lanka credit. They played well. They played better than India.
(Only the headline and image of this report may have been reworked by Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
First published: August 13, 2024 | 09:59 IS
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