Virat Kohli instilled lot of guts in Indian team during his captaincy tenure: Harbhajan Singh

Former legendary off-spin legend, Harbhajan Singh, mentioned some of the positives that emerged from Virat Kohli's tenure as the captain of the Indian cricket team. The former India off-spinner acknowledged the fact that the Men in Blue didn't win a World Cup under Kohli's leadership but credited him for instilling a lot of hunger and belief in the team. Kohli was at the helm for 213 games across formats and India won 135 out of them.

Only the legendary MS Dhoni has more wins as a captain. However, the Delhi batter garnered a lot of praise for the way he spearheaded the Test team, guiding India to some famous overseas wins. Fans as well as experts loved how the Indian team fought fire with fire against some of the best teams in world cricket in adverse conditions. The Asian giants won 40 out of 68 matches under Kohli's leadership.

Harbhajan highlighted Kohli's impact on the team which retained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia in 2020-21 by winning the series 2-1. The right-handed batter led the team in the first Test which India lost before returning home on paternity leave.

Ajinkya Rahane took over as the stand-in captain for the remaining matches and helped India register their first-ever series win on Australian soil. However, Kohli garnered a lot of adulation for the fighting spirit shown by the team. Besides, Harbhajan also pointed out the innings played by youngsters like Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant that orchestrated a famous win in the final Test in Gabba on that tour.

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"You may not have won a World Cup under Kohli's captaincy but it doesn't make him a lesser captain or lesser player. The fire that he ignited in the team, like it may be a target of 400 in the fourth innings of a Test, we'll go for the chase, we won't panic. If we go down, we do it while chasing. It takes a lot of guts and brain, which Kohli has instilled in the team," said Harbhajan in an interview with Sports Yaari as quoted by Times of India.

"The determination to fight till the end, which Shubman (Gill) and Rishabh ( Pant) showed to win that Test in Gabba. It was because of the way the team's thinking changed," he further added.

Can Virat Kohli turn things around against New Zealand?

Meanwhile, speaking of Virat Kohli, the veteran batter didn't have a great time with the bat on his return to Test cricket during the recently concluded series between India and Bangladesh. In four innings, he scored just 99 runs and didn't live up to his lofty standards.

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Team India have three home Tests lined up against New Zealand, starting on October 16. The 35-year-old will look to get into top gear before the highly-anticipated Border-Gavaskar Trophy gets underway next month.