‘You will shame yourself if…’ - Harbhajan Singh recalls his advice to ‘self doubting’ young Virat Kohli

There have been many youngsters who are capable of setting the stage on fire in the past and may come in the future, but it is not sure if they can match the standards set by Virat Kohli. Right from the early days of his career, the right-hander has been impressive and has managed to maintain consistent form throughout his journey across all formats.

Team India relied heavily on the young Kohli's batting, and even at 35, that hasn't changed much. Former Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh recalled a few instances involving the batting stalwart, which highlighted his potential and mentality.

Speaking on a recent podcast titled 'Find a Way with Taruwar Kohli', Harbhajan recalled a couple of events and his advice for the young Kohli. He said Kohli made a significant impact during the ODI series on India's tour of Sri Lanka when most of the senior batters failed to shine.

“I remember when he first came into the team. I think Viru (Sehwag) was injured, and the batters were all dismissed by (Ajantha) Mendis. Virat Kohli came in, a young guy full of free energy came in to bat, played Mendis and scored 54 in a One-Day game. Kohli is a Dada player," Harbhajan said.

Also Read: ‘You never know with…' - Harbhajan Singh predicts Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli’s cricketing future 

Kohli had self-doubt, questioned himself: Harbhajan

The legendary spinner shared another incident where Kohli struggled to find runs. The former Indian captain, in the early days of his Test career, failed multiple times cheaply against West Indies and doubted himself in his abilities. Bhajji revealed that Kohli’s confidence had taken a hit.

However, the 44-year-old backed the Delhi cricketer to score over 10,000 runs in the longest format of the game. Harbhajan added that it will be Kohli's fault if he fails to breach that milestone.

"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 was very disappointed. He had self-doubt, and questioned 'If I am good enough?' You will shame yourself if you don't score 10000 runs. You have the capability of scoring 10000 runs in Test cricket. And if you don't, it'll be because of your own fault,” he stated.   

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Kohli has so far scored 8848 runs from 113 Test matches. The right-hander has 29 centuries, 7 double centuries and 30 fifties to his credit. He will next be seen in the two-match Test series against Bangladesh, starting on September 22.