Former Pakistani pacer Shoaib Akhtar came under some heavy trolling at the hands of Indian team fans after saying that he doesn’t like Virat Kohli putting all his energy in T20Is and wanted him to retire from the format.
Akhtar shared his opinion after lauding Virat for his amazing knock of 82* in 53 balls which helped India beat Pakistan in their T20 World Cup 2022 tournament opener in Melbourne on October 23. Kohli turned the heat on Pakistani bowlers in the last three overs of the game as India needed 48 runs in 18 balls to chase down 159 runs.
Kohli hit three fours in the 18th over bowled by Shaheen Afridi and then hit two amazing sixes to Haris Rauf in the 19th over. Mohammad Nawaz, who bowled the 20th over, while defending 16 runs, was hit for a six off a high full-toss as well, which was deemed as no ball.
“According to me, he played the greatest innings of his life against Pakistan. He played like this because he had the self-belief that he will do it. He was down and out for 3 years, he didn’t score runs, he was stripped of his captaincy and a lot of people said a lot of things to him. People even dragged his family into it but he kept training and put in the graft and just a day before Diwali, he played a firecracker on an innings. He decided that this place and this stage is perfect for his comeback. The king is back and he is back with a bang and I am really happy for him. He is a great cricketer,” the Pakistan legend said on his YouTube channel.
Akhtar also said that he wanted Kohli to retire from T20 cricket because he did not want Kohli to put all his energy in that format of the game only.
“I want him to retire from T20I because I don’t want that he puts his entire energy in T20I cricket. If he used all his might like he did today, he can score three centuries in ODIs,” he said.
However, saying that Virat Kohli should retire from T20Is didn’t go well for Shoaib Akhtar as he was trolled by Indian fans on social media, with many calling him jealous of Kohli, who has always done amazingly well against Pakistan in World Cup matches.
Here are some of the reactions:
