Don’t know whether current players want to lift WC trophy for Virat Kohli, 2011 team wanted to do for Sachin Tendulkar: Harbhajan Singh

The ODI World Cup 2023 is well underway, and with the marquee tournament also come the expectations of millions of fans. With India hosting the competition completely for the first time, the added pressure from the media and the supporters would be even higher than usual.

With India all set to kick off their campaign by taking on Australia on October 8 in Chennai, many have been mulling over the topic of whether the side will look to lift the title for ace batter Virat Kohli, like the side did for the legendary Sachin Tendulkar in 2011.

Furthermore, Harbhajan Singh highlighted the fact that Sachin Tendulkar has been one of the most respected players in the history of the game and no other player has come close to earning the amount of respect that he did. He did take the name of former skipper MS Dhoni but opined that no one has come close to them ever since. 

Sachin Tendulkar was the most respected cricketer in the dressing room in the history of Indian cricket: Harbhajan

“There is a difference between the team of 2011 and the current squad. Dhoni’s team was united and wanted to win the World Cup for Sachin. I don’t know whether current players want to lift the trophy for Virat. Sachin Tendulkar was the most respected cricketer in the dressing room in the history of Indian cricket. Even MS Dhoni enjoyed a lot of respect. No one else got that kind of respect after them. I know the Indian players want to win the World Cup for the team, but I am not sure about Virat,” Harbhajan Singh told IndiaToday.

When former Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh was asked the question about playing as an individual or team, he gave a rather intriguing answer. Harbhajan opined that the Indian team should look to play for the flag and not focus on individuals.

"It's for India. You play for that flag. I played only for India, not for an individual. No matter if my captain was Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, or MS Dhoni, it didn't matter for me. All that mattered to me was that I was playing for India. It is always about 'India should win' not 'Virat Kohli should win' or 'Rahul Dravid should win'," he added.