Former India cricketer Sourav Ganguly has come out in support of Virat Kohli after Shoaib Akhtar's bizzare 'retirement' comment. With age not on his side, Virat Kohli, completed 15 years in international cricket on Friday (August 18), is expected to play the final One-Day-international World Cup of his career this year. Apart from ODIs, Virat's future in T20Is also is doubtful as he and Rohit have been sidelined by the BCCI in this format ever since India's exit from last year's T20 World Cup in Australia. Both senior batters haven't played a single T20I game for team India since then. For the unversed, Virat Kohli, at present, holds the record for most runs in T20 International cricket. Even after not playing any T20I match for almost 10 months, he remains at number one position with 4,008 runs.
Meanwhile, former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar, in an exclusive interview with RevSportz, opined that Kohli can retire from both ODIs and T20Is to 'prolong his career in the longest format’, break Sachin's record of 100 international tons. So far, Virat has scored 76 tons in international cricket.
"I don't think he should play more 50-overs matches after this World Cup. Also, if you see him in T20s, it takes a lot out of him. I think he should play for at least six more years and break the 100 hundreds record of Sachin Tendulkar. Kohli has it in him to break the record. He should focus on Test cricket after this World Cup, and break this record," Akhtar said on the show 'Backstage with Boria' on Thursday.
Later that evening, former India captain Sourav Ganguly came with a smashing reply, saying that he did not see logic in Akhtar's assessment.
"Why? Virat Kohli should play whatever cricket he wants to play. Because he performs," Ganguly said on the sidelines of a Denver event where he was announced as the 'Brand Face.'