Harbhajan Singh, India’s former ace spinner, projected support towards Virat Kohli and attributed the team’s form to his style of playing. If Kohli “was soft like MS Dhoni“, India would not have scored so many runs, Harbhajan Singh said.

Singh, 41, noted that India’s outlook towards international games has transformed under the leadership of Kohli, adding that 33-year-old’s temperament “suits the Indian setup.”

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He said, “Earlier when the team would go to Australia, we would think about how to save the Test series. Under Virat’s captaincy, there has been a change where we think about how do we go and win the Test series in Australia”, according to reports from NDTV.

While wishing him luck for the ongoing series in South Africa, Harbhajan compared India’s red-ball cricket skipper to former captain MS Dhoni. He said if Kohli would not have come up his own captaincy approach, it would have been difficult for him to gain success.

“His aggressive approach has made Virat Kohli the player he is today. If Virat Kohli was soft like MS Dhoni, I don’t think he would have scored so many runs”, Harbhajan Singh said in a statement, according to reports from NDTV.

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Harbhajan Singh, who is nicknamed “The Turbanator”, remembered an instance when he was playing a Test series alongside Kohli and was impressed by his leadership skills.

The off-spinner recalled a Test game where India had to score about 400 runs, where Kohli had scored a ton. Harbhajan Singh told Virat Kohli that “the match could have ended in a draw”, to which he replied, “there is no importance of a drawn Test, either you win or you lose and the day we learn to fight, we will learn to win and someday we will”, NDTV reported.