Former indian Legendary spinner Harbhajan Singh has revealed how he encouraged Virat Kohli to surpass Rahul Dravid's tally of international runs when the star batter was still at the beginning of his career.
Kohli made his international debut during India's five-match ODI series against Sri Lanka in 2008.
Since then, he has established himself as one of the greatest batters in the history of the game, breaking several records across formats.
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The right-handed batter currently plays only ODIs for India and is the second-highest run-scorer in international cricket, only behind the legendary Sachin Tendulkar.
Speaking about Kohli's early days, Harbhajan noted that he recognised the youngster's exceptional talent and believed he had the potential to go past Dravid's international run tally.
"He had a lot of talent, but I wasn't sure he would do what he has gone on to do. I remember in 2008 he immediately scored a half-century when Ajantha Mendis was unplayable. At that time, I told him that if he didn't break Rahul Dravid's numbers, he wouldn't have justified his talent. There was a huge change in Kohli in just two years. His hunger and desire to win were different," Harbhajan Singh said on Prakhar Gupta's podcast.
Kohli scored 159 runs in five matches during the 2008 ODI series against Sri Lanka, including a half-century in the fourth ODI. India won the series 3-2.
Kohli eventually surpassed Dravid on the list of the highest run-scorers in international cricket, as Harbhajan had predicted. Kohli has accumulated 28,527 international runs across formats and remains active in ODI cricket. Dravid, meanwhile, finished his international career with 24,208 runs in 509 matches.
"The improvement in fitness levels in Indian cricket should be credited fully to Kohli. No one takes Indian cricket's fielding lightly anymore, and that's a credit to Virat Kohli and his team. He changed the entire system of fitness. And his hunger is still the same: to be the one to win the match for India. He's so passionate, and that's the difference between him and everyone else," said Harbhajan.
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Kohli will next be seen in action during India's upcoming five-match ODI series against New Zealand, which is scheduled to begin on November 4.
Before that, India will play a five-match T20I series against New Zealand, starting on October 22. The ODI series will be followed by a two-Test series, which is scheduled to begin on November 19.
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