Former Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar believes team India's star batsman Virat Kohli should give up T20Is and concentrate fully on ODI and Test formats, so that he can break Sachin Tendulkar's record of 100 hundreds in international cricket. Notably, Virat Kohli has not played a single T20 match since the last T20 World Cup and it is believed that BCCI might not consider him and Rohit Sharma for India's T20 squad in future. Virat's century tally stands at 75 and he is 26 tons away from surpassing Sachin Tendulkar's century tally of 100 international hundreds.
“As a cricketer, if you ask me, I feel he should stick with only Test and ODI formats. T20I unki energy bahot nikaal deta hai (T20I format drains a lot of his energy)," said Akhtar in an interaction with Sports Tak.
Akhtar further said that Virat is now 34 years old, still playing all three formats and can play international cricket easily for next 6 to 8 more years.
“He is a very excited kind of character. He wants to be out there, he wants to look good. He wants to have a good time in T20Is. He likes it. But at times, he needs to save his body. How old is he right now? 34 right? Easily he can play for about 6 to 8 years. If he plays 30-50 more Test matches, I’m sure it won’t be difficult for him to score 25 centuries in those Test matches," he added.
Shoaib Akhtar feels breaking Sachin's iconic 100 hundreds feat will be a daunting task for Kohli.
“However, it will still be a daunting task for him in terms of fitness and mental health. Luckily, he is a strong guy, he is a Punjabi guy. It’s great that he is in a good frame of mind. He is concentrating and having a good time with his cricket. So he should remain focused and cross the 100-century barrier," Shoaib Akhtar added.
Virat Kohli's international career
Tests: 108 matches, 8416 runs
ODIs: 273 matches, 12844 runs
T20Is: 115 matches, 4008 runs
IPL: 223 matches, 6624 runs