Missing Out on the County Stint Might be a Blessing in Disguise for Kohli - Harbhajan Singh

Out of favour, India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has stated Kohli’s injury and him getting ruled out from the county stint for Surrey might well turn out to be a blessing in disguise ahead of the long tour of England.

He felt the India skipper needed rest ahead of the England tour. Harbhajan is of the opinion the after a long IPL season it’s better than the Indian captain gets the rest ahead of the two important tour to England and Australia.

“Not at all, I feel it (Virat’s injury) should be okay as there is a lot of time. It good that he (Virat) is not playing county because he needs rest as IPL is a very hectic tournament, it is not that easy,” Harbhajan was quoted as saying by the reports in Mumbai ahead of the IPL final at the Wankhede Stadium.

He is part of the Chennai Super Kings who has qualified for the final after beating Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Qualifier 1.

“After IPL all players feel there should be a break of 15 days. So in my opinion, it is good that he (Virat) is not going to play county cricket. His body will get rest; he will recover and much better prepared for the bigger things. I am sure he is as good as a player, whether he plays county cricket or not,” the off-spinner said. He has represented India in 103 Tests.

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Harbhajan also stressed on the fact that rest is an essential factor in every cricketer’s life.

“Every player knows their body, and somewhere down the line, we as players need to take responsibility and understand our bodies and see what works for us. For different bodies, different things work.

“We need to be honest and be out there and tell those people who are in-charge of making calendars. This is the kind of workload we need to have and work as a team,” he said when asked about the workload management.

“If players are getting injured in more numbers, then the reason is more cricket happening, or there is fatigue or they are not getting rest properly, or they are not eating well. Rest is important,” he added.

Harbhajan was an integral part of India in the earlier years when he was a dominant force in the team with Anil Kumble.

Even after his Kumble’s retirement, he went on to spearhead the attack. However, the emergence of Ravichandran Ashwin and his form lading out the former became the No 1 pick.

Later, as time flew by, Ravindra Jadeja also came in the reckoning and cemented his team in the longest format of the game.

Meanwhile, India will be touring England after 2014, a series which they lost by a 1-3 margin. However, Harbhajan is optimistic about the fact that this team can beat England in their den.

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Harbhajan feels the current team has it in them to win in England

“Every-time they (India) tour abroad, we feel we have a team to win abroad but in the end… how the wickets are going to be, whether our fast bowling unit will be fit during that time, a lot will depend (on) whether Virat will be batting at his best,” he said.

“A lot will go on the form as well, how is the form of bowlers and batsmen, but yes (when) we go on a tour we feel that we have a chance to win,” said Harbhajan, who has 417 Test scalps.

“But (it is a) great opportunity and I see this team has the potential to win. Keeping that in mind fitness has to be at the top level. It is not going to be that easy to go out and start winning. It is going to be a lot of hard work, but this team has the capability to do so.” Harbhajan said. He also added that his tenure with the CSK so far has been great

“It been a great journey coming from one brilliant team to another, luckily things did not change too much for me, we played final there (with MI) and playing the final here (for CSK),” he concluded.

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