Shoaib Akhtar, the legendary Pakistan bowler, praised Virat Kohli after his magnificent innings against the Men in Green in the T20 World Cup 2022 on Sunday. Kohli hit a match-winning unbeaten 82 as India overcame their arch-rivals by four wickets to get off to a strong start in the tournament.
At one point during the challenging 160-run chase, India found themselves reeling at 31/4 after only seven overs. Kohli, on the other hand, took command and teamed with Hardik Pandya to push the game to the wire before destroying Pakistan's bowlers in the closing overs.
Kohli assisted India in chasing down 48 runs in the final three overs in one of their most famous victory against Pakistan in recent memory, officially announcing his comeback after a lengthy slump earlier this year. Akhtar praised Kohli as one of the greatest of all time, calling his innings the greatest of his career.
"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," Akhtar said in a video on his YouTube channel.
The former Pakistan pacer, who is a big supporter of the senior Indian batter, has been there for him through thick and thin. According to Akhtar, the game against Pakistan was ideal for Kohli to make his comeback which he achieved with a remarkable knock.
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"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," said Akhtar.
The Pakistan great then went on to urge the senior India batter to consider retiring from the shortest format arguing that he can score many more centuries if he concentrates on ODIs. Akhtar said Kohli could have scored three centuries in ODIs with half of the effort that he put into his 82-run-knock against Pakistan on Sunday.
"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," said Akhtar.
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The former Pakistan speedster also showered plaudits on the Pakistan cricket team, saying they had done marvelously well.
“Pakistan, don’t lose heart. You played really well. Iftikhar, I have criticised 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,” he said.
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