Harbhajan Singh skips India vs Sri Lanka series to watch Olympics, says ’watching only...’

Days after Charith Asalanka-led Sri Lanka defeated Rohit Sharma-led Indian cricket team in the three match ODI by 2-0 at Colombo, former Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh said that he has not not seen a single ball of cricket during the India versus Sri Lanka series as he was watching only the Olympics.

Harbhajan even gave the credit to Sri Lanka for the amazing victory against India.

"To be honest, I have not seen a single ball of cricket during the India versus Sri Lanka series because I was watching only the Olympics. It was one of those things. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose it. It's sports after all. All cricketers go through these periods. You play well but you still don't win. I will give credit to Sri Lanka. They played well. They played better than India. They have done something better than India to achieve a rare series victory against India," PTI quoted Harbhajan as saying.

The former spinner even mentioned that India's bowling was not at its peak during the series without Jasprit Bumrah.

He added, “India's bowling was not at its peak during the series without Bumrah. But they had Kohli, Rohit... a great batting lineup with KL Rahul coming back. It's a good achievement for Sri Lankan cricket. Hopefully, Team India will be back on their tracks.”

On Rohit and Virat:

In the meantime, Harbhajan spoke regarding Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma's fitness.

According to him, Kohli with his supreme fitness can easily survive the rigours of international cricket for another five years.

On Rohit Sharma, Harbhajan stated that will last at least another couple of years.

"Rohit can easily play for two more years. You never know with Virat Kohli's fitness, you can see him competing for five years. He is probably the fittest guy in the team," Harbhajan told PTI.

"You ask any 19-year-old competing with Virat (on fitness). Virat will beat him. He is that fit. I believe Virat and Rohit have a lot of cricket left in them and it is entirely up to them. If they are fit enough, they are performing and the team is winning, they should continue to play. As simple as that," Harbhajan said.

The former spinner believed Test cricket is one format where you need both of them.

"Red ball cricket, you really need these two guys to play a little bit more than what people are asking. You need experience in all formats whether its limited overs cricket and Test cricket. You need experienced cricketers to nurture the talent that is coming up," Singh said.

"Selectors need to see, that if someone is not performing well, they should be dropped. Whether they are senior player or juniors. But as long as everyone is fit, they should be able to get selected in the team," Singh added.

With agency inputs.