Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma talking© AFP
The Cricket World Cup 2023 campaign is about to begin for India, with a match against Australia on Sunday. India, who last became world champions in 2011, may see superstars like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, R Ashwin, Mohammed Shami etc. in their last ODI World Cup. It is often said that the 2011 Indian team wanted to win the World Cup for the great Sachin Tendulkar. There are those who wonder whether it will be the same for Virat Kohli this time. When Harbhajan Singh was asked this question, he gave an eye-opening answer.
Speaking on India Today, Harbhajan Singh said that he does not think that the Indian team for the 2023 World Cup is as united as the 2011 World Cup team was.
“There is a big difference between the two teams. That team (2011 World Cup-winning Indian team) was much more united. They wanted to win the World Cup for Sachin Tendulkar. He got a lot of respect from others. I am not about this team. I am sure. Don’t know who wants to win the World Cup for Virat Kohli. But, they definitely want to win for India. It is a big difference,” he said.
Harbhajan further explained his point and said that the entire team respects Tendulkar to such an extent that all the players want to win the World Cup for him. He is not sure whether the players in the current team are so united about Kohli or not.
“The respect that Sachin Tendulkar got in the dressing room of the 2011 team has not been achieved by any other player since then. MS Dhoni also earned a lot of respect, but I don’t think that has happened to any player after him.”
Harbhajan elaborated, “They all (Indian players) want to win for the country, but not for any one player. Virat would also like to win for the country, winning for himself is a bonus. That’s my belief.”
“It’s for India. You play for that flag. I played only for India, not for any individual. It doesn’t matter whether my captain was Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid or MS Dhoni, it’s not for me. Doesn’t matter. All that mattered to me was that I was playing for India. It’s always about ‘India should win’, not ‘Virat Kohli should win’ or ‘Rahul Dravid should win,” the former Indian spinner insisted.
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