Harbhajan Singh gives reality check! Says current team heavily relies on Kohli, Rohit; Know why he said it

New Delhi, April 24: The veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh believes that the current Indian team lacks match-winners as the other players heavily rely on the limited-overs vice-captain Rohit Sharma and skipper Virat Kohli. He added the players are more worried about losing their place in the team which results in them underperforming.

 

 

While pointing the differences and similarities between the Indian teams of the past and present, Singh said, "The current Indian side is dependent on Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. The side does not have much confidence, there are good players but once Virat and Rohit get out, 70 percent of matches we tend to lose. There is a lack of self-belief," in an Instagram live with Sharma.

 

The fear of losing their place in the team is the reason he stated. “Players are more worried about losing their spot in the team and that’s why the youngsters sometimes are not being able to perform,” he added.

 

Singh citing the World Cup 2019 said the Men in Blue could have won the World Cup if there were more players other than Kohli and Sharma who could have helped to lift the trophy. India has lost to New Zealand in the semi-final of the event.

 

Recalling about the past teams, he added, "In our times, we had a lot of trust and belief. If the top three of the current Indian side are dismissed, then we have problems in winning matches, you need to find more watch winners. You had a good World Cup, but then you lose in the semi-finals, if you had 3-4 guys performing, we would have won the World Cup".

 

However, Singh went to praise the Karnataka batsman KL Rahul who has been in a good form for a while now. He said apart from Kohli and Rohit, he has the ability to bring more wins to the side. “Apart from Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul is another match-winner. He can bat at 5 or 6 and at the same time perform at the top order,” Harbhajan said about KL.

 

In the same live session, when an Instagram user asked about when will former captain MS Dhoni return, Sharma said, "We don't know what's happening with him. We haven't heard any news about him. The last match of the World Cup was in July. From there, till now we haven't heard anything I have no idea."

 

On the other hand, Singh informed, "You should look to know whether Dhoni wants to play for India or not. As far as I think, I do not think he wants to play for India. I think he knew that the 2019 World Cup was the last tournament for him in Indian colors. I’m sure Dhoni will definitely play in the IPL but according to me he has made up his mind to not don the blue jersey anymore,” the 39-year-old said.

 

Dhoni has been out of action from international cricket since the World Cup in July last year. However, the Indian Premier League (IPL) was seen as a potential comeback for him but IPL 2020 has been postponed due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.