Virat Kohli Should Take His Time to Recover From an Injury - Harbhajan Singh

India’s off-spinner Harbhajan Singh suggested Team India skipper Virat Kohli should take his proper time, in order to recuperate from an injury.

Pertinently, Kohli had suffered a neck injury which eventually ended his County stint with Surrey before it even began. Kohli hurt his neck during the 51st match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).

Harbhajan stated Kohli should not rush himself back on to the field. The veteran added that if India will lose the services of Kohli for the England tour, then it would be a huge blow.

Virat is India’s best batsman and thus he is going to be pivotal if the visitors are to savour success.

“Any injury is a scare. If something happens to Virat, it will be a big blow for the team. Team India would be empty without him in England. I hope nothing major has happened to him and let’s hope he plays during the England series,” Harbhajan told India Today.

Harbhajan further added the Indian skipper is a strong character mentally. The Turbanator went on to add that even if Kohli doesn’t play One-day Internationals and Twenty20 Internationals in England, it would not matter. However, he should be fit as a fiddle for the Test matches.

“You need to change your stance if you have a bad back and you need to be very strong mentally, Virat is a strong guy mentally. He has to ensure he looks after his body. If he does not play the Tests, that will be massive. He should not rush himself. He needs to give himself proper time to look after himself. Even if he skips the ODIs and T20Is, that’s fine. He is very keen to go to England and prove a point,” experienced Harbhajan said.

There is still more than one more month left for the England tour.

Consequently, Harbhajan believes Kohli has got enough time under his belt to recover from his neck injury. However, the veteran added that Kohli should be careful in his rehabilitation procedure.

“It’s always nice to have 15 or 20 days to start another series – here, he has an entire month and that is enough time to recover. But he needs to be careful. He might need to see what is the best way forward – but at the end of the day, he is the best judge and if he thinks he can, he should play the limited-overs matches too,” Harbhajan noted.

However, this untimely injury has hampered the preparation of Kohli. Earlier, Team India leader has signed with Surrey to play in County Championship in a bid to get acclimatised to the English conditions.

Kohli had struggled to hit the ground running in the 2014 tour as he averaged merely 13.50. However, Kohli is definitely a better player now.