"It was almost as if God had created a stage for him"- Shoaib Akhtar recalls Virat Kohli's miraculous 82* against Pakistan in T20 World Cup
Former Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar was just in awe of Virat Kohli's incredible innings of 82* against Pakistan during the T20 World Cup last year. It was Kohli's brilliance that helped the Men in Blue clinch the win on the final ball against the odds.
Akhtar recalled just how momentous the occasion was at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) with more than one lakh people watching Kohli absolutely dominate the Pakistan bowlers.
Speaking to RevSportz, here's what Shoaib Akhtar had to say about Virat Kohli's knock:
"The way Virat played in Australia (T20 World Cup), it was almost as if God had created a stage for him to show why he was the King. Those two shots (to Haris Rauf), one lakh people watching, the stage was set for his glory. Bad things will never happen with good people."
Akhtar reckons no captaincy could be a blessing in disguise for Kohli to focus just on his batting and break records. He added:
"Kohli might feel a bit hard done by with the captaincy saga. But why did you start playing cricket? To become like Sachin, right? You have become. His entire focus has been on his cricket now. I have told him to score 110-115 hundreds."
Shoaib Akhtar on Virat Kohli breaking Sachin Tendulkar's record
Shoaib Akhtar has also advised Virat Kohli to not push his body to the limit and pick and choose formats after the ODI World Cup. He feels that although Kohli may cross several records of the great Sachin Tendulkar, the latter will remain arguably the greatest.
On this, Akhtar stated:
"If I was Virat Kohli, I would leave it after this World Cup. We want more Test centuries from Virat and want 100 hundreds. He might get better stats than Sachin. But there are many boxers like Mike Tyson. But Mohammad Ali is Mohammad Ali, (Michael) Jordan is Jordan, Sachin is Sachin."
Kohli has completed 15 years in international cricket today and continues to be India's star batter.