Shoaib Akhtar came out all guns blazing for the critics who have subjected Virat Kohli to intense heat and flak for the dearth of form in the last three years. Kohli has suffered an unexpected slump in form of late and somehow the lean patch has extended for more than three years, ever since his last century in 2019.
The entire world has split into two factions at the moment, one that believes that it is just a matter of a single good knock that would turn the tide for Virat Kohli while the other believes, that it is time for him to be axed.
Former Pakistani fast-bowler, Shoaib Akhtar was in no mood to hold back his punches, especially when the discussion is about Virat Kohli. Virat has so far smashed 43 ODI centuries while also hammering 27 Test centuries taking his overall tally to 70 blistering tons.
Here is what Shoaib Akhtar had to say about Virat Kohli
Talking on his YouTube channel, Shoaib Akhtar quoted, “Kapil Dev is my senior; I respect him and he has his own opinion. He is a legend; he can voice his opinion. A great cricketer can talk like that. Virat Kohli has 70 centuries and only a great player can score as many runs.”
He further added, “I am hearing a lot of criticism about Virat Kohli. It is being said that he should be dropped. Virat Kohli is finished, this is right. There is nothing more left in his career, this is also right and he would not be able to do anything more in his career, this is right, these types of things other people are saying to me.”
Akhtar had a response ready for the former Indian captain, citing, “I told them, Virat Kohli is the greatest player, in the last 10 years, if there has been any greatest player, it is Virat. He has 1-2 bad years, he still has scored runs, just the century has not come.”
Akhtar also had a word of advice for Akhtar, where he said that Virat should be staying away from social media and all the criticism that he has received of late. He should focus more on his batting and hang in the middle. Instead of being bombarded with questionable calls, he simply needs to focus on getting those crucial runs.
Virat is a part of the third ODI squad that will be taking on England for the series finale at Old Trafford and only time will tell, whether Virat can turn the ship around in his favor or is it simply going to be another crushing fiasco that would consume him.
