Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh said that Virat Kohli's century against Pakistan will boost everyone's confidence in the dressing room. Kohli scored a brilliant 100* (111) with the help of seven fours to help India chase down the target of 242 and win the match by six wickets.
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00:00Talking to us is an Indian fan first, then a former cricketer, then a World Cup winner
00:06in Harbhajan Singh.
00:07Harbhajan, thank you so much.
00:09Now the dust has kind of settled.
00:11You've done your analysis in the commentary box, but now on India Today, if I were to
00:17ask you to look back at that game, was it really a contest or was it a no contest for
00:23you?
00:25See, there was a contest, obviously.
00:29India-Pakistan game is always about handling the pressure and I think India handled that
00:35pressure better than the Pakistanis.
00:37And of course, they had the advantage of winning the toss, batting first on such surface, which
00:43was about to get slower as the game was going to progress.
00:46But they didn't get use of that opportunity.
00:50Credit to our Indian bowlers, they bowled really well, they stuck to their plans and
00:54hit the right areas, filled it beautifully and they were probably the better team, not
01:00just this time, but even since we have been seeing, played and now we are seeing this
01:08was a proper, proper game where India dominated Pakistan.
01:12Okay, I must compliment you, Harbhajan, apart from of course the Indian team doing well,
01:19you did very well as an analyst as well because on the eve of this match, I had asked you,
01:24what do you think of Virat Kohli?
01:25Will he strike form?
01:26He has been going through a bit of a lull patch and you said, watch out, this is the
01:31game where I am predicting Virat will be amongst the runs and that's exactly what has happened.
01:36What told you in advance that this was coming?
01:43What prompted me?
01:44I felt it's been too long we have not seen Virat Kohli getting into groove and this is
01:51probably the opportunity where Virat Kohli will come in the groove and score those runs
01:57for Team India.
01:58He is a top, top player, someone who loves being there in pressure situation and deliver
02:04for Team India and he has been doing it over 10 to 15 years now and that's why we call
02:09him a modern day legend.
02:11It's good to see him scoring those runs and it came at a very, very important time.
02:15This will not just give Virat Kohli confidence, it will boost everyone's confidence in the
02:20dressing room and coach will be very happy because Virat Kohli is back with the band.
02:27Harbhajan, I was talking to a lot of fans, both from India and Pakistan and one common
02:32sentiment that you do see, whether it's from an Indian fan or a Pakistani fan, is the fact
02:37that the gap between the two teams has really increased and when you were playing we saw
02:42much closer contest, before that there was a time where Pakistan dominated but what do
02:47you think is the reason now that gap has become so much bigger and India is so far ahead of
02:52Pakistan?
02:53Any one factor that you can think of?
02:58Well I don't know how Pakistan cricket works but you know to BCCI, I think we must give
03:04a lot of credit to BCCI and NCA, you know the system of Indian cricket is in great shape.
03:13They are making grounds, they are giving opportunities to the young players and there's a great system
03:18in place.
03:19That's why cricket is growing every single day in India.
03:23You see, we talk about Shubh Mangal, we have players like Tillak, we have players like
03:27Abhishek Sharma, we've got a lot of youngsters who are coming up in the rank and are doing
03:34a brilliant job for Team India.
03:36All I can say, you know, Indian cricket's future is very very bright, we've got a lot
03:42of great players who are just making their rank in the international cricket.
03:50So I believe, you know, the system in place is very very good and people like VVS Lakshman,
03:57he's a director of NCA, you know, credit to him as well and a lot of work goes behind
04:02the scene which people don't notice, you know, BCCI have done a tremendous job by doing
04:08something amazing.
04:10Okay, Harbhajan says the future is bright for Indian cricket.
04:16I must add to that, I think both the long-term future is bright as well as the immediate
04:21future is bright because India have made the semi-final of this tournament and are looking
04:25good to even play the final on 9th of March.
04:29You heard from both the captains, Rizwan saying that it was a missed opportunity and
04:33Rohit Sharma complimenting the entire team as to how they approached and how they got
04:37those small little things correctly to execute a perfect win over Pakistan.
04:43What you're seeing on your screens right now are visuals that are coming in from across
04:47the country, people celebrating whether it's Bangalore, whether it's Mumbai, whether it's
04:52Jammu, everywhere across the country people are in celebration mode.
04:58I know this is not the end of the tournament, I know that this is not a situation where
05:02India has won the Champions Trophy, a tournament that they've been chasing for a very long
05:07time.
05:082013 is the last time they won it, but you must remember there are two reasons to celebrate
05:12today.
05:13One, of course, beating your arch-rivals in Pakistan, that victory is always very sweet
05:18for Indian fans, no matter at which stage of the tournament that comes in.
05:22And secondly, India have qualified now for the semi-final of the Champions Trophy that
05:28will be played in Dubai on the 5th.
05:30Who is it that India will be playing against?
05:32We will know at the moment, other teams have to fight for that second spot in the Champions
05:36Trophy.
05:37For the world's looking for Pakistan, it is almost curtains on their captain.
05:42Remember Pakistan are actually the host of this tournament, but as things stand, it does
05:47seem like that they'll be heading out of the tournament in the very first round.
06:22Beautiful, beautiful, that was like a Sachin Tendulkar kind of a shot, we say in Punjabi
06:30that, click my photo.
06:32That drive was like a proper drive by Shubman Gill, and of course he batted beautifully
06:38and he took the game away from Pakistan early on, Rohit Kohli got out early on, and it was
06:44about this young lad going and doing the job, what he did was amazing.
06:53Let's take a look at the tournament at a macro level, Harbhajan.
06:57Fair to say, India looking like the best team in the tournament, they've got two wins, I
07:01know Australia has done well, and then you have New Zealand also doing well, they'll
07:05be playing their second games a little later, but how far do you see India now go into the
07:10tournament, they're already through to the semi-final.
07:15Well I think Team India, they are in great shape, they are playing some good cricket
07:19and of course this was an important game from Indians point of view, this was an important
07:26game to get a win, and you get that sort of confidence going forward, and they did exactly
07:31what they were supposed to do, and they were a better side on papers, and they delivered
07:37it like champions, they batted beautifully, and they had a plan in place, and they followed
07:43that plan, and they came at the top, well done to Team India, and well done to all of
07:48us, we wanted to celebrate this win, and here we are, celebrating this.
07:56Okay, finally Harbhajan, before we let you go, a word on India's bowling as well, because
08:01they did the job to restrict Pakistan to a below par total of 241, a special mention
08:08of Kuldeep Yadav, Hardik Pandya, because there was that partnership that was brewing, and
08:13then towards the second half of the innings, both came to the fore.
08:18They both bowled really well, I think Shami kind of had a bit of an off day, which can
08:26happen to any bowler, but Hardik Pandya, he took the responsibility, he delivered it,
08:32and Kuldeep was brilliant, in his second, third spell when he came to bowl after 40th
08:37over, he was amazing, brilliant, so good sign for India going forward, Hardik Pandya, you
08:43can count him as a sixth bowler, but I think he was as good as your number one bowler today.