Harbhajan, who claimed 417 wickets from 103 Tests, heaped praise on Kohli and spoke about the importance of leaving deliveries in England’s swinging conditions
Nottingham: Veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has described India captain Virat Kohli’s Test team changes as “too much” but admitted that they don’t matter as long as success is guaranteed.
Since taking over as India skipper in 2014, Kohli has fielded a different Playing XI in each of the 38 Tests he has led in.
In the third Test against England at Trent Bridge, India had made three changes, picking Jasprit Bumrah, Shikhar Dhawan and debutant Rishabh Pant for Kuldeep Yadav, Murali Vijay and Dinesh Karthik. India won the Test by 203 runs on Wednesday.
“Personally, I think 38 changes in 38 Tests are too much. But every captain is different, and every team's dynamics are different. Maybe they want horses for courses, and it works for them,” Harbhajan was quoted as saying by PTI.
Under Kohli’s captaincy, India has won 22 Tests. He is now the second most successful skipper for the country, after MS Dhoni.
The 38-year-old spinner said it did not matter what others think of the team combination as long as it produced results.
“They were close to winning the series in South Africa (earlier this year). They have turned things here in England. If the captain believes in it, the management agrees and the players accept it, then what you and I think doesn't matter,” he said.
Harbhajan, who claimed 417 wickets from 103 Tests, heaped praise on Kohli and spoke about the importance of leaving deliveries in England’s swinging conditions.
"If you leave the ball well in England, then you will score a lot of runs, but for that, you need to be at the wicket and that happens only if you leave a lot of balls. He is a brilliant batsman. I haven't seen many batsmen come to South Africa, Australia and England, and make conditions look so easy to bat on. He bats on a different wicket than other batsmen," he opined.
"Virat's best quality is that he says ‘we will play to win, whatever the situation we will play to win’. In that process, you might lose a few games but once you get into that groove, you will win many games," he added.
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