Former Indian captain Virat Kohli recently roared back into form as he found his lost mojo in the recently concluded 2022 edition of the Asia Cup T20 tournament. The batting maestro finished the tournament as the second-highest run-getter. He played five matches and remained unbeaten on two occasions, scoring 276 runs at an average of 92.00. Virat also went on to score his first international century since November 2019 by scoring a 53-ball century against Afghanistan.
Kohli ended a long wait of 1021 days to score his 71st ton, which was also his maiden century in the shortest format of the game. He had scored his last international ton against Bangladesh in the pink ball Test match at Eden Gardens in November 2019.
During the game, Virat walked out to open the innings along with the stand-in skipper KL Rahul and took the game by storm. Virat Kohli reached the three-figure mark in 53 balls. He eventually played a blockbuster knock of 122* runs off 61 balls, including 12 fours and 6 sixes.
While he has been receiving praises from all corners for his terrific knock and his comeback, former Pakistan cricketer Shoaib Akhtar has made a big prediction about the Indian batting superstar. Shoaib Akhtar has joined the bandwagon of giving retirement advice to Kohli. He has urged Virat to announce his retirement from the shortest format after the T20 World Cup later in Australia.
Explaining the reason behind his advice, Akhtar said that Kohli should look at the larger picture and make a call regarding the same. He said: “Kohli might just take retirement after the T20 World Cup. He may do that to extend his longevity in the other formats. If I was him, I would have looked at the larger picture and taken a call,”
Earlier, Shahid Afridi had also advised the 33-year-old to take a call on his career whilst still being at the top of his game. He had said:”The way Virat has played, the start that he had to his career, there was a struggle initially before he made a name for himself. He is a champion and I believe there comes a stage when you are headed towards retirement. But in that scenario, the aim should be to go out on a high,”
He added:
“It shouldn’t reach a stage where you are dropped from the team and instead when you are at your peak. It seldom happens though. Very few players, especially cricketers from Asia Cup make that decision, but I feel when Virat does it, he will do it in style and probably in the same manner in which he started his career,” Afridi said on Samaa TV.
