Former Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh refused to criticise star batter Virat Kohli after a poor start to the T20 World Cup campaign where he failed to score in double digits.
So far in three matches — Ireland, Pakistan and the USA — Kohli lost his wicket after scoring one, four and 0 runs respectively. However, despite three successive failures, Harbhajan refused to judge the 35-year-old saying that batting on New York’s pitch was difficult.
"I do not want to judge anyone on that pitch [New York pitch] as batting was difficult on that pitch," Harbhajan said while speaking on Star Sports.
"Virat Kohli didn't score runs because the conditions were like that," said Harbhajan. "You cannot judge a player in those conditions," he added.
The former spinner also talked about the importance of partnerships at the top as it sets a platform for the middle order.
"Runs are obviously expected from Virat Kohli. We also need to consistently see partnerships that we aren't getting in the first six overs. Then your middle order is set. Suryakumar Yadav and Shivam Dube have scored runs," said Harbhajan.
It is worth mentioning that India’s last group match against Canada was abandoned without a ball bowled due to a wet outfield in Florida.
India’s squad for T20 World Cup
Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj.
Reserves: Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Khaleel Ahmed and Avesh Khan.
India’s Super 8 schedule
Thur, 20 June 2024 — Afghanistan v India, Barbados, 10:30 AM LOCAL
Sat, 22 June 2024 — India v Bangladesh/Netherlands, Antigua, 10:30 AM LOCAL
Mon, 24 June 2024 — Australia v India, St. Lucia, 10:30 AM LOCAL
- Virat Kohli
