'Whenever you captain the country, you need to keep friendships aside' - Harbhajan Singh

Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh believes that his former teammate Yuvraj Singh would have made a terrific leader had the latter been offered a chance to do so.

In an interaction with Sportskeeda, Harbhajan reflected upon how friendships and captaincy should never be mixed. The 'Turbanator' mentioned that even if his 'friend' Yuvraj were the Indian skipper, he still would have the same number of international games in his resume.

"I don't think any of our careers would have been prolonged had Yuvraj been the captain. Because whatever we have played we have done it on our ability and no captain has saved us from getting the axe. Whenever you captain the country, you need to keep friendships aside and think of the country first," Harbhajan said as quoted to Sportskeeda.

Further, he commented that had Yuvraj become the skipper, players would have been forced to sleep and wake up early. The 41-year-old reckoned that the southpaw would have been a 'great' captain.

"If Yuvraj Singh would have been Indian captain, we would have had to sleep early and wake up early. We would have to do a lot of hard work. He would have been a great captain. His records speak for themselves as he won the Player of the Tournament in the 2011 World Cup, a title that gives us respect," Harbhajan added.

The cricketer-turned-commentator shared that he started as a batter at the start of his career. He then shifted to fast-bowling but eventually became an off-spinner.

"I started off as a batter but was also a fast bowler. Don't know how I ended up as a spinner. But probably when I was asked what I do, I should have said that I bat. Because when you're a batter and play for India, whole world is at your feet. You will hardly find a bowler being a 'superstar' as this is the batter's game. People want to see fours and sixes hit," he disclosed.

Although the World Cup winner began as a batter, his decision to transform into a spinner returned to the Indian team's benefit. Harbhajan claimed 711 international wickets in his 367-match career.