'You will shame yourself…' Harbhajan Singh recalls how he motivated young Virat Kohli

Harbhajan Singh feels Virat Kohli has left an everlasting impact on Indian cricket.

Former Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh recently recalled an incident the early stages of career of modern-day chase master Virat Kohli.

Virat Kohli made his test debut for the Indian cricket team against West Indies in a three-match away tour in 2011. However, the youngster back then couldn’t perform well in the entire test series. He managed only 76 runs at a poor average of 15.20.

Throughout the whole test series, former West Indies pacer Fidel Edwards dismissed young Kohli multiple times, which resulted in Kohli doubting himself and his abilities.

You will shame yourself if you don’t score 10,000 runs: Harbhajan Singh

Legendary off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, who was Kohli’s teammate then, revealed that Kohli was disappointed with himself for not performing well in his debut test series against the West Indies in 2011. 

Harbhajan Singh said that he motivated a young Kohli to push his boundaries, saying that he has ability to score over 10,000 runs in test cricket.

“If I tell you something about his Test cricket, at the very beginning. We were in the West Indies. On that tour, Fidel Edwards (former West Indies quick) had troubled him a lot, getting him out either LBW or against the short ball. He was getting out time and again, so obviously he was very disappointed,” Harbhajan shared in the Taruwar Kohli podcast.

“He had self-doubt, questioned ‘If I am good enough?’ I told him ‘You will shame yourself if you don’t score 10,000 runs. You have the capability of scoring 10,000 runs in Test cricket. And if you don’t, it’ll be because of your own fault.’ After that, what Kohli has done is a once-in-a-lifetime exception,” Singh added.

Kohli has left an everlasting impact on Indian cricket: Harbhajan Singh

Harbhajan further added that Kohli has the hunger to perform well and win matches for the Indian cricket team. The former spinner hailed Kohli for bringing a fighting spirit in the team, which helped India win many away matches.

“I have seen him change. His diet, his mindset – ‘That I don’t want to be just an ordinary player. I want to be someone who people will know for a long time.’ The stubbornness I saw in myself, Kohli has a lot more of it. I want to be that guy winning games and scoring hundreds for India. He was scoring hundreds back-to-back in Australia. It was the first time India chasing 400 runs… and they are going after it. We may lose but we’ll fight. That attitude of keep going, that’s what makes you a player. Kohli has left an everlasting impact on Indian cricket,” Harbhajan added.

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