Former Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar has made a massive statement regarding an Indian cricket legend. Regarded as one of the fastest bowlers ever to have played international cricket, Akhtar is often in the news for his comments and remarks revolving around issues concerning Pakistan and world cricket. However, this time around he has made a claim for an Indian stalwart who represented the Men in Blue during his playing days.
Interestingly, Akhtar made the claim while he was wanting to explain a point about present-day Indian cricket star Virat Kohli. Known as the Rawalpindi Express, the 47-year-old shared his views on Sachin Tendulkar and said that while the latter was the best batter in the world, as a captain he was lost.
"See, I believe Sachin Tendulkar is the best batsman in the world. But as a captain, he was lost. He left the captaincy himself. I was talking to one of my friends about Virat Kohli, and we were discussing the same thing. He was lost, and when he works on his mind, he will perform. When his mind became free, he ruled the T20 World Cup," Akhtar told BoI News.
He showered praises on Kohli and said that at one stage it was the batter's tons that helped his side won single-handedly.
"You also need to look that almost 40 centuries from Kohli came in run chases. People tell me that you praise Virat Kohli a lot. I just say, Why shouldn't I do that? During one stage, India used to win because of Virat's hundreds," he added.
Even though Akhtar has praised the ex-Indian skipper, Kohli hasn't been at his best in Test match cricket. Even in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy, he is yet to score a half-century. However, it should also be noted that batting has been pretty challenging in this series but Kohli's last hundred in the sport's purest format came back in 2019.
Knowing his class and stature, the cricket community is waiting with bated breath to see him conquer the lean phase just like he did in limited-overs cricket.