Shoaib Akhtar, who is hailed as one of the finest pacers in the history of the game, was involved in several on-field battles with Indian batting legend Sachin Tendulkar. However, every time both the cricketers battled it out on the cricket field, Akhtar was at the receiving end of Sachin’s batting assaults.
The Pakistani legend is also known for his controversial opinions on cricket and he has once again hogged all the limelight as he issued a massive statement on former Indian captain Virat Kohli. Shoaib Akhtar feels that if Virat Kohli was there during his time, the swashbuckling batter wouldn’t have scored that much of runs against him.
If you’re immersed in the joy of doing what you love, everything else is irrelevant.
pic.twitter.com/Wc0DJvg4gm
— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) April 15, 2022
With 23650 runs in 458 international games with 70 tons and 122 half-century scores, Virat Kohli is currently the seventh-highest scorer in world cricket and the third-highest among Indians after Sachin Tendulkar (34357 runs) and Rahul Dravid (24208 runs). However, Shoaib Akhtar feels that if Virat was there during Akhtar’s prime time, the batter wouldn’t have scored that much of runs against him. He said:
“Virat Kohli is a good person and a big cricketer and you only expect big words from big players. And I thank him a lot for that. But, if I would have played against Virat Kohli then he would not have scored these many runs but whatever he would have scored those would have been fabulous and it would look that he really fought hard for those runs. He may not have had 50 centuries. 20 or 25 may at the most but those would have been valiant hundreds. I would have gotten the best out of Virat Kohli,”
Virat Kohli, who is hailed as one of the greatest batters of the modern era, has been going through a rough phase and has found himself under the scanner of critics because of his inconsistent performances. However, in his last few performances for Team India and for RCB, there have been glimpses of his vintage form.
Not a portait kinda person. pic.twitter.com/ZaxlpYTcWO
— Shoaib Akhtar (@shoaib100mph) March 26, 2022
Further, the former Pakistan pacer also gave a piece of advice to Kohli saying that he wants the former RCB captain to focus on one thing at a time and play as a normal cricketer by leaving all the pressure behind. He said:
“It’s a performance based IPL franchise model. No one will be spared, not even Virat Kohli. Even he can be dropped if he does not perform. Some of the things I can’t even say now. Not one but there are 10,000 things going on in his head. He is a good person, a good player and great cricketer, but I want him to just focus, on one thing at a time. Consider yourself as a ordinary player, pick up your bat and just play. People have already started pointing fingers at Virat Kohli and it’s dangerous,”
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