New Delhi. Former Indian spin legend Harbhajan Singh believes that Virat Kohli can easily cope with the busy calendar of international cricket for the next five years with his excellent fitness, while Test and ODI captain Rohit Sharma can also comfortably play for the next two years. Harbhajan said in an exclusive interview to ‘PTI-Video’, “Rohit can easily play for two more years. You cannot compare Virat Kohli’s fitness with anyone else. You can easily see him playing for five years. He is probably the fittest player in the team.
This former off-spinner, who has taken more than 700 wickets in international cricket, said, “You can ask any 19-year-old to compete with Virat in terms of fitness and Virat will beat him. He is so fit. I believe that Virat and Rohit still have a lot of cricket left and it is completely up to them how long they want to play. ” He said, “If both of them remain fit and keep contributing to the team’s victory with their performance, then they should continue to play. ” Harbhajan believes that Test cricket is a format where the team will need both of them.
He said, “You really need these two players in the red ball format. You need experience in all formats whether it is limited overs cricket or Test cricket. You need experienced cricketers to groom the upcoming talent.” Harbhajan also said that if a player is not performing consistently then he should be dropped from the team. He said, “The selectors need to see which player is not performing well. He should be dropped from the team, whether he is senior or junior.”
Harbhajan believes that the youth have more hunger than the senior players because they have to establish themselves. He said, “I always believe that the youth have more passion and enthusiasm than the senior players. If you play for 15 years, your hunger decreases a bit. Riyan Parag is getting opportunities and it is great to see the way Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill are playing.” On this occasion, Harbhajan did not give much importance to the 0-2 defeat in the ODI series against Sri Lanka and said, “You win some matches and lose some. This is a game, every team has to face such a situation. I would like to give credit to Sri Lanka in this, they played better than India.
