Former Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Akhtar, who is regarded as a legend of the game, is one of the most active cricketers on social media. He is often seen giving his opinions on various matters of cricket on his Youtube channel and interviews.
Shoaib Akhtar is seen praising Indian cricketers for their performances every now and then, however, he often finds himself at the receiving end of criticism because of the same.
In a recent interview with Cricket Pakistan, Shoaib Akhtar was asked about people criticizing him for often praising Indian cricketers. Responding to the criticism he often faces, Shoaib Akhtar said that the public should accept that Virat Kohli is one of the best players in the world right now and he deserves all the praise coming his way. He said:
“Why should I not praise Indian players and Virat Kohli? Is there any player in Pakistan, or all over the world, which comes close to Kohli?”
He added:
“I don’t know why people are angry, they should go look at the stats first before criticising me. Do they want to keep the hatred in mind, that just because he is an Indian, we will not praise him?”
Shoaib Akhtar went on to ask his criticizers to check out the statistics if they have any doubt about Virat Kohli’s abilities. He said:
“Kohli has 70 international hundreds right now. Who else has this many hundreds right now in international cricket? How many series has he won for India? Should I not praise him then?”
He further questioned why he shouldn’t praise Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma when they are performing all the time. He asked:
“This is very strange. We all can see clearly he is the biggest batsmen in the world. He and Rohit Sharma are performing all the time. Why shouldn’t we praise them?”
Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will be seen in action when the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League will kickstart from 19th September in the UAE.
