The India Pakistan t20 world cup match last Sunday was tagged one of the best matches in the history of cricket by a majority of cricket lovers. The performance by former Indian skipper Virat Kohli was above the competition. While the entire cricket fraternity applauded Virat for his superior knock in the match, the praise from the former ‘Rawalpindi express’ of the opponent team Pakistan is mention worthy.
Though the unbeaten score of 82 by Kohli impressed him a lot, he desired to see him retire from the t20 format and focus more on his ODI career. Here is what Shoaib Akhtar said on a social media platform, “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 went on to add, “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”.
“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 concluded.
On the other hand, Akhtar also supported Team Pakistan and asked them to not lose hope. He said, “Pakistan, don’t lose heart. You played really well. Iftikhar, I have criticized you but you have played a brilliant innings. Shan Masood, you were brilliant. Naseem Shah, you were absolutely great and Shaheen, you work on your fitness because you are not fully fit.”
It must be noted that Virat was not so much in form for the last few years. And while he was criticized badly for his falling game, this superior knock by him earned him back the title that India knew he deserved- “King Kohli”. Virat’s wife, actress Anushka Sharma was also seen praising her husband with a lovely Instagram post as she could not attend the match due to her film Chakda Express’ shooting schedule at Kolkata which is based on the life of Jhulan Goswami, an Indian woman cricketer!