HomeNewsHarbhajan Singh: Virat Kohli a champion player but Sachin Tendulkar is No. 1
Harbhajan Singh: Virat Kohli a champion player but Sachin Tendulkar is No. 1
Apart from Harbhajan Singh and Vijay Lokapally, 15 sports stars, nine journalists, five novelists and four cine stars are expected to be a part of the event.
Pune’s maiden sports lit festival ‘SporTale’ saw Harbhajan Singh and Vijay Lokapally, author of Kohli’s cricketing journey ‘Driven’ sharing the stage together. This maiden festival is a two-day event. Apart from Harbhajan and Lokapally, 15 sports stars, nine journalists, five novelists and four cine stars are expected to be a part of the event. Indian gymnast Dipa Karmarkar along with her coach Bishweshwar Nandi will also talk about their expedition on global gymnastics. Not only that, India’s former cricketer Sunil Gavaskar will also narrate stories to another great VVS Laxman from his book ‘Sunny Days’, marking the 40th anniversary of his first book.
Meanwhile, Harbhajan and Lokapally spoke on Indian captain Virat Kohli. Harbhajan began with his bonding with Kohli since younger days, “He is like a younger brother to me. He is like one of those guys who like to talk and do things with people who like to spend time with. Hum log Delhi team mein senior the and Punjabi bond thi. (I was his senior but we had our Punjabi bond) But he used to come to eat and sit with us.We always treated him like a younger brother, no matter aaj wo Hindustan ka kaptaan ban gaye hai ya phir world ka kaptaan ban jaye. Humare liye toh chotta bhai hi rahega. (he might be India’s captain now but for me he will forever remain a younger brother). And I wish him nothing but the best. He is the best and there is no doubt about it and I wish him all the luck going forward not just in India but in abroad as well. Winning abroad will definitely take him to a different level.”
Speaking on a young Kohli, Lokapally mentioned about his struggle in younger days, “Like always, Bhajji has gone through the same and it is very difficult to get recognition. The resistance to a newcomer was not from the players due to the politics there. And Virat of course, his coach was always confident and always backed him. He only went to one academy; he only went to one coach. He stuck to his coach. Atul Wassan was one of the early individuals who thought that this boy can play for India. There is a small anecdote in the book where he wanted to be picked for Under-15 and there were whole lot of talks in the Delhi cricket circuit that there is a new boy who is coming up.” Full Cricket Scorecard: India vs Australia 1st Test at at Pune
After not being picked for in the initial Under-15 squad, Kohli scored back-to-back runs and selectors were forced to pick him in the squad. He also struck 2 double-tons in the U-17 national championship. Lokapally added, “By then all the senior players were also aware that there is a player who will be joining them soon. He was later picked for U-19 side and led his side to the World Cup title in Kuala Lumpur. So that was where his journey began. But he was a very intense cricket. Always disciplined, never crossed the line. He wanted to play for India and that is what had brought him where he is today.”
A lot has been spoken about Sachin Tendulkar and Kohli’s records. However, Harbhajan had a fitting reply to all, “If you see the record, Virat is doing really well. I personally want him to break all the records in the world. For me Sachin will remain No. 1. Virat is a champion player. To summarise this, paaji ki jagah koi nahi le sakta. Unke kaaran bahut saare logo ne cricket khelna chalu kiya hai, unme se ek mein bhi hoon. Virat bhi yahi kehta hai ‘paaji-paaji hai.’ Chahe beta jitna bhi bada ho jaye, baap nahi ban sakta hai. (No one can take Tendulkar’s place. Many have started playing this sport because of him and I am one of them. Virat also says that Sachin is Sachin. No matter how much the son grows in life, a father will remain father.)”
Tendulkar’s younger days were no different in comparison to Kohli’s. Adding to the comparison between the greats, Lokapally said, “Sachin was more intense. If you see he had tougher bowlers to face for example, going to Pakistan and facing the likes of Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis was not easy. One should not take away any credit from Virat. The international bowling standards and Bhajji would agree, have fallen. So going out and making runs is difficult. In Sachin’s case, there were players like VVS Laxman, Sourav Ganguly and Virender Sehwag, who was the opening batsmen then. But in his initial days, there was lot of pressure on Sachin to perform whenever he took guard. He had to make runs, whether in Test cricket or limited-overs. Sachin would never sleep before a game. It was not fear of failure, but a desire to perform. One can say Virat has the same desire, same passion. Like Harbhajan said, Sachin was miles ahead.” Virat Kohli hails Usain Bolt; aspires to run as fast as him
We have all seen Kohli’s skills on-field. But his skills off-field is not many know about. Lokapally adds light to it, “He is like any of the youngsters today. From whatever little I have seen, he is very respectful to his seniors. That speaks about his grooming. The best thing I like about Kohli is his presence in social media. The way he reacts to social issues despite being an Indian captain, sets him apart. It shows that he has mellowed down and grown as an individual.” Virat Kohli has shades of Sachin Tendulkar and Viv Richards, says Kapil Dev
Harbhajan was of the same opinion as well, “He gives immense respect and at the same time is a fun-loving person. He is also a prankster. If I have to pick the best actor in the India cricket team, it has to be Virat. However, I want him to focus on cricket. He has got all the qualities to be at the top as a cricketer. But if he was ever a stand-up comedian, could have easily left Kapil Sharma way behind.”
Lokapally summed up on Kohli in a perfect way on what sets him apart from other cricketers, “His passion to win, that’s the main thing. He takes the responsibility on himself. He did it for Delhi, RCB, north-zone and obviously India. He is actually driven to see India is the No. 1 team. My only desire is to see him do well in England. Every time the critics say he did not do well there. They don’t realise that Anderson was bowling at his best then in that series. So the day he goes in England and beats England, which is when he will be setting new bench-mark for himself.”
This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Strictly Necessary Cookies
Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.
If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.