Legendary Pakistani pacer Shoaib Akhtar had come up with a radical piece of advice for Virat Kohli, the ‘Rawalpindi Express’ has stated that Kohli should no longer play T20Is, as it consumes a lot of energy, instead, the former Indian skipper should turn his attention to ODI and Tests to breach the 100-centuries mark.
Virat recently smashed a Test century against Australia in the fourth Test, thereby ending his nearly three-year drought for a ton in the longest format. The 186-run knock helped India draw the fourth Test, as the hosts retained the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2023.
Meanwhile, Akhtar who has backed Kohli to surpass Sachin Tendulkar’s milestone of 100 tons, has come up with a unique piece of advice for the 34-year-old.
The legendary pacer feels the T20I format takes away a lot of energy and even though Virat Kohli likes playing the shortest format, he should ‘save his body’ for Test and ODI cricket.
ALSO READ| ‘Give Sanju Samson a Chance Because…’: Wasim Jaffer on Suryakumar Yadav’s ODI Struggles
Speaking to Sports Tak, Akhtar backed the talismanic batter to continue playing for 6 to 8 years, and surpass Sachin’s incredible record of centuries.
“As a cricketer, if you ask me, I feel he should stick with only Test and ODI formats. T20I unki energy bahot nikaal deta hai (T20I format drains a lot of his energy),” said Akhtar.
He continued, “He is a very excited kind of character. He wants to be out there, he wants to look good. He wants to have a good time in T20Is. He likes it. But at times, he needs to save his body. How old is he right now? 34 right? Easily he can play for about 6 to 8 years. If he plays 30-50 more Test matches, I’m sure it won’t be difficult for him to score 25 centuries in those Test matches.”
While Virat had gone nearly 2 years without scoring a century across the three formats, since the Asia Cup last year, runs have continued to flow from his bat. He scored some memorable knocks since taking a break from cricket and returned in red-hot form. However, Akhtar did go on to add that crossing Sachin’s daunting milestone won’t be easy and it will earn Virat Kohli a lot of praise from Indian fans.
ALSO READ| ‘Would Have Been First Pick in my Team’: Brett Lee Bats For Umran Malik’s Inclusion in India’s Playing XI for 3rd ODI
“However, it will still be a daunting task for him in terms of fitness and mental health. Luckily, he is a strong guy, he is a Punjabi guy. It’s great that he is in a good frame of mind. He is concentrating and having a good time with his cricket. So he should remain focused and cross the 100-century barrier,” Shoaib Akhtar added.
He further stated, “And India will reserve high praise for him. And all these trash talks about Babar Azam and Virat Kohli – these are great players. Who is bigger than Kohli or Babar in Asia? No one. So all these loose talks are done just to grab attention.”
Get the latest Cricket News here
Comments
0 comment