Former India player Harbhajan Singh believes that Team India’s swashbuckling batter Virat Kohli will be keen to win another World Cup trophy before retiring from the game. Both Harbhajan Singh and Virat Kohli were part of the MS Dhoni-led Indian side that won the ODI World Cup in 2011. He shared how the World Cup has eluded Kohli since the initial success and he would love to win another one.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Harbhajan said: “Virat Kohli didn’t appear on the ground. He needed a well-deserving rest and he got it. In 2011 he won a World Cup, he got into the team and he won the World Cup for the first time, we had already played three or four World Cups and he won it for the first time. It was luck and after that, Virat turned into a big player he played in 2015, 2019, and 2023, and even after that he couldn’t get his hands on the trophy.”

“So that feeling stays in the mind of the player. I think he won’t be satisfied until he gets his hand on the trophy. He has broken a lot of records and scored a lot of runs. His hunger will be satisfied when he gets his hands on the World Cup trophy,” he further added.

However, Virat Kohli enjoyed a sublime run at the 2023 ODI World Cup in India, scoring 765 runs, the most by a player in a single edition. He also surpassed Sachin Tendulkar to become the batter with the highest number of ODI centuries. And, he believes Virat Kohli’s form with the bat will be key for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League.

Harbhajan told Star Sports: “Well, it’s important for him to have a season like 2016, because if Virat Kohli goes on to score runs for them, it means the team will go forward. But I don’t know if they go on to win the cup or not, but with the brilliant individuals they have in their team—Virat Kohli, Maxwell, Green, and a few more like Patidar—so I believe they have a lot of good batting, and everyone wants Virat Kohli to make that comeback from 2016 and score heavily at the top. If that happens, they will have a great chance to go forward.”