The tally of runs scored by Rahul Dravid in his international career was an impressive benchmark for Indian batsmen. Virat Kohli was just starting his career, but Harbhajan Singh had the challenge for him to make the best of his ability.
In the interview, the former India spinner touched upon that issue with Prakhar Gupta again and said that he had seen Kohli’s ability but not anticipated his future greatness. Harbhajan remembered that he had told the youngster that he should overtake Dravid’s figures.
Kohli started his journey in ODI cricket in 2008 against Sri Lanka. During the five-match series, he had picked up 159 runs – a half-century in the fourth ODI – with India emerging victorious 3-2. Harbhajan specifically recalled that particular occasion as the Sri Lankan spinner Ajantha Mendis was a big problem.
From there, it was a career that Kohli ran well past the goal set by Harbhajan. Now he has crossed the 28,527 international runs mark, which is ahead of former India skipper Dravid, who retired with 24,208 runs in 509 matches.
Harbhajan feels Kohli is more than just a batsman. He also credited the former India captain for turning the team’s concept of fitness and fielding around, saying that Indian players now have much higher fitness standards.
The batsman’s never-ending fascination of winning matches was also highlighted by the spinner. Even after Harbhajan had become one of the premier run scorers in the game, his lust for runs was never in check, he said.
Since then, Kohli has switched from Test and T20 international cricket to ODIs, but he has not been active in both formats for a while. He’ll most likely be next called up for India’s five-match series against New Zealand that starts November 4.