‘Whether you are Sachin or Kapil Dev, you feel pressure’: Harbhajan says Kohli is feeling the heat after stepping down

Former India skipper Virat Kohli has not been his usual self of late. After a series of resignations and being part of a massive controversy, the 33-year-old has looked out of sorts during the ongoing India-South Africa ODI series. After all, it's the first time in 7 years that he is playing white-ball cricket only as a player. Harbhajan Singh, while commenting on his form and role in the team, has stated that Kohli is bound to come under some pressure.

While speaking in a video on his YouTube channel, Harbhajan Singh quipped no matter how big a player you are, you will always feel pressure when you're not performing.

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"When a captain steps down after seven years, a lot of people feel surprised in and outside the team. I myself was very surprised that he perhaps made this decision in a hurry. But obviously, Virat knows what's in his heart, what are his future plans and what he wants to do in the future. But when you are captain, things are different. As a batter, he'll have a different pressure upon him. We all know he's a big player but when you are captain you don't have to worry about your selection. You are always selected.

“But no matter how big a player you are - whether you are Sachin Tendulkar, Kapil Dev, (Sunil) Gavaskar, or anyone - you feel the pressure when you don't perform. He'll feel a pressure that wasn't there for the past 7 years. But I also want to say that in these seven years he's performed the best in world cricket as a captain. I hope his performance as a batter continues to be equally good and he keeps winning Team India matches as he did as a captain,” elaborated Harbhajan.

Kohli registered scores of 51 in the first two games, respectively, and is still awaiting his 71st hundred.