'Fitter than those playing alongside him' - Harbhajan Singh on Virat Kohli's fitness

Published - 13 Oct 2025, 16:25 IST | Updated - 13 Oct 2025, 17:39 IST

Legendary India cricketer Harbhajan Singh feels Virat Kohli has better fitness standards than many of his current Indian teammates. Kohli last played international cricket in March in the 2025 Champions Trophy. He is all set to feature in the ODI leg of their upcoming series against Australia to return to internationals after a six-month absence.

Harbhajan also admitted that he has been eager to see Kohli return to cricketing action. The veteran off-spinner and Kohli's former teammate also expressed that he wanted Kohli to play for the Men in Blue for as long as he could, because of the amount of output he is capable of generating for the team with his contributions.

“Please don’t ask any questions about Virat’s fitness. When it comes to fitness, he’s a guru. Everyone follows what he does. There’s absolutely no concern about Virat Kohli’s fitness; he’s fit, probably fitter than many of those currently playing alongside him. In today’s international cricket, he’s arguably the fittest player out there. Now, I’m just looking forward to seeing Virat back in action. Fans have missed watching him, and personally, I’d love to see him continue playing the ODI format for a while longer because he still has so much to offer," stated Harbhajan while speaking on JioStar's ‘Amul Cricket Live’.

Harbhajan, like many other analysts, reiterated on how he felt Kohli had more to offer in Tests and that he could have played for longer. Although not much was said about Rohit, but Harbhajan expected the former Indian skipper to dominate Down Under too.

"When he retired from Test cricket, I genuinely felt he still had four to five years left in him, not just to play, but to dominate, because that’s the kind of batter he is. He’s now heading to Australia, his favourite place to bat, and I’m sure he’ll once again show his mettle there. We’ve seen him score tons of runs in those conditions before, and I believe he’ll do it again. The same goes for Rohit; I’m looking forward to both these legends scoring heavily for India and helping the team win matches,” he added.

Ex-IND coach delivers final verdict on Kohli & Rohit

India and Australia will be crossing swords for three ODIs followed by five T20Is to set up the series Down Under. Shubman Gill, who was recently appointed as the ODI captain, will be vice-captaining in the T20I leg. The series-opening clash will be played on Sunday, October 19.