Veteran India spinner Harbhajan Singh has extended his support to Virat Kohli who has been under the scanner for his lean patch with the bat in recent times. The batting maverick took a short break from cricket to manage his workload and now will play his 100th T20I match on Sunday against arch-rivals Pakistan in their opening match of Asia Cup 2022.
The spotlight will be on Kohli during the high-octane encounter as he has a decent record against Pakistan with the bat and was the only batter from India to score a half-century when the two sides met last time during the 2021 T20 World Cup. However, the 33-year-old has not been at his best in recent times and is struggling to manufacture big runs as his last international century came way back in 2019.
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However, Harbhajan, who played a lot of cricket with Kohli, said that all the big players of the game went through a rough patch in their careers and backed Kohli to bounce back in a brilliant fashion in Asia Cup.
“Virat Kohli is looking very relaxed. His practice routine is still the same. His hard work is also of the same level. The runs may have dried up, but all the big players have gone through this phase, be it Wasim Akram or Sunny (Sunil) Gavaskar sir. Great players are those who rise after falling. I have no doubt that Virat Kohli will rise again and in brilliant fashion at that,” Harbhajan told Sports Tak.
The veteran off-spinner further said that the former India skipper is under pressure but he has to find a way to get out of the rut himself.
“I am a Virat Kohli fan because he plays positive and attacking cricket. There has been pressure on him due to low scores, but he should not move away from his strengths. Virat will have to find a way out of this rut himself. All I can say is, if he sticks to his natural game, he will have better chances of being successful,” he added.
Harbhajan also talked about the pressure of India vs Pakistan game and it won’t be the same as a World Cup game but feels Rohit Sharma and Co, won’t be relaxed when they enter the ground for the clash.
“Under Rohit Sharma’s leadership, the team is looking relaxed. There is not so much pressure because this is their first game and they are likely to clash again and, if they do really well, a third time. It’s not like the World Cup pressure, but India-Pakistan is still a big game. Once they get on the ground, they won’t be relaxed,” he added.
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