“Does he really even want to be No. 1 again?” - Shahid Afridi questions Virat Kohli’s attitude
Former Pakistani captain Shahid Afridi has questioned star Indian batter Virat Kohli's attitude, asking whether the 33-year-old still has the motivation to become the No. 1 batter in the world.
Kohli has been going through a lean patch in international cricket over the last two seasons. He hasn’t scored a single century across formats since November 2019.
Reflecting on the former Indian captain’s elongated poor form, Afridi made a bold statement while speaking to Samaa TV. He said:
"In cricket, attitude matters the most. That is what I talk about the most. Do you have the attitude towards cricket or not? That Kohli, earlier in his career, wanted to be the No. 1 batsman in the world… is he still playing cricket with the same motivation? That is the big question. He has the class. But does he really even want to be No. 1 again? Or does he think he has achieved everything in life. Now just relax and pass time? It's all about attitude.”
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The experienced batter had a poor IPL 2022 campaign as well. Representing the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), he scored 341 runs in 16 matches at an average of 22.73 and a strike rate of 115.99. He only had two fifties to show for his efforts. Shockingly, he registered three golden ducks during the edition.
Despite having a poor IPL 2022 showings, Kohli has been rested for the ongoing T20I series against South Africa. Apart from him, skipper Rohit Sharma and pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Shami have also been given a break, while KL Rahul was ruled out due to injury.
In the absence of seniors, Rishabh Pant is leading a depleted Indian side who are 2-1 down in the five-match series.
What Kohli had said about Ravi Shastri wanting him to take a break
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During his struggles in the IPL, former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri had suggested that Kohli needed a break to rejuvenate himself. Sharing his views on Shastri’s comments, the right-handed batter had earlier told Star Sports:
"It's not a lot of people who mentioned it (taking a break). There is one person precisely who has mentioned it which is Ravi bhai and that's because he has seen from close quarters over the last six-seven years the reality of the situation that I have been in.”
He added:
“The amount of cricket that I have played and the ups and downs and the toll that it takes on you to play three formats of the game plus the IPL for 10-11 years non-stop with the seven years of captaincy in between..."
Kohli gave up the T20I captaincy after the World Cup in the UAE last year and quit the Test captaincy after the series loss in South Africa earlier this year. In between, he was also sacked as the ODI captain.
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