“When you are captain you don’t have to worry about your selection” – Harbhajan Singh subtly warns Virat Kohli after 2nd India vs South Africa ODI

Harbhajan Singh has subtly warned that Virat Kohli, after leaving or being removed from the captaincy in all three formats, will now feel a pressure he hasn’t felt in the past seven years. The former spinner remarked that with his selection no longer guaranteed, Kohli will feel under the pump to perform now more than ever.

Harbhajan Singh’s remarks came a day after Kohli was out for a five-ball duck in the second ODI against South Africa in Paarl. India ended up losing the game by seven wickets. Kohli scored a half-century in the previous match but looked completely at sea in the second, chipping a full off-stump ball from spinner Keshav Maharaj to cover.

Speaking in a video on his YouTube channel, Harbhajan Singh said he too was surprised by Kohli’s “hurried” decision to step down from the Test captaincy, adding that new challenges now await him as a batter. He remarked:

“When a captain steps down after seven years, a lot of people feel surprised in and outside the team. I myself was very surprised that he perhaps made this decision in a hurry. But obviously, Virat knows what’s in his heart, what are his future plans and what he wants to do in the future. But when you are captain, things are different. As a batter, he’ll have a different pressure upon him. We all know he’s a big player but when you are captain you don’t have to worry about your selection. You are always selected.”

Harbhajan Singh hopes Kohli will continue to be the match-winner he was as a captain. He continued:

“But no matter how big a player you are – whether you are Sachin Tendulkar, Kapil Dev, (Sunil) Gavaskar, or anyone – you feel the pressure when you don’t perform. He’ll feel a pressure that wasn’t there for the past 7 years. But I also want to say that in these seven years he’s performed the best in world cricket as a captain. I hope his performance as a batter continues to be equally good and he keeps winning Team India matches as he did as a captain.”

The numbers of Virat Kohli in ODI is God level.

The numbers of Virat Kohli in ODI is God level. https://t.co/PRHj228hOV

Following the defeat on Friday, India, led by interim captain KL Rahul, conceded the three-match series, with the South Africans taking an unassailable 2-0 lead.

It was the first series defeat for the Men in Blue after Kohli’s stepping down and the 33-year-old remains the only captain to have won an ODI series against the Proteas in South Africa.

“The weakest South African team that defeated India” – Harbhajan Singh on the Test series

Harbhajan Singh also spoke about India’s 2-1 defeat in the Test rubber that preceded the ODI series. He remarked that despite taking an early lead, India lost against the “weakest” South African side because of batting failures.

He said:

“When India went to play the Test series, it felt like this was a quite capable and strong team which will easily defeat this South African team. But that didn’t happen. We did win the first Test, KL Rahul batted brilliantly, Mayank scored 60-odd and our bowlers did well throughout the Test series but just because we couldn’t score enough runs, we lost the Test series even after taking a lead. If you are 1-0 up in South Africa then you should win and against this team – I feel this was the weakest South African team that defeated India.”

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India will play for pride in the final ODI, which begins at 2:00 pm IST on Sunday.