Former Pakistan skipper Shoaib Malik clarified that nobody paid close attention to what he had to say about Virat Kohli’s batting and that there had never been a batter in history without a weakness in his armor. The former Indian skipper has been a standout batter for the Men In Blue in the ongoing World Cup alongside Rohit Sharma.
During a panel discussion, Shoaib Malik brought up the issue of Kohli vs spin, and Malik explained the great Indian batter’s spin difficulties. The former Pakistan skipper was just doing his job as an analyst, but he might not have expected the barrage of comments and the never-ending abuse.
During one of the post-match shows, the topic was brought up again and Shoaib Malik responded with a little laughter in response, then talked about the incident, stating that any batter in the world of cricket would have a weakness in their own game and feels that his statement has been misinterpreted by the fans.
“There is and hasn’t been a single batter in the world who doesn’t have a weakness, even if he scored 1 lakh runs. You guys didn’t get my point. All I said was that any batter, whose feet move across, faces troubles facing spin. If you want examples, there are so many greats; you can ask anyone.
“When your feet go across while facing the spinner, the moment the ball comes in, he/she will not find it easy. I didn’t say that he doesn’t know how to play. I said that he gets a little uncomfortable. That’s all. Had you seen the entire show, you would have known that I always praise him. He is one of the greats,” Shoaib Malik said.
Earlier, while speaking about Pakistan players’ weakness against spinners, Shoaib Malik explained that like Babar Azam, are often getting caught in a spin web when playing Afghanistan’s Noor Ahmed or Kuldeep Yadav. Malik stuck to the subject of dealing with left arm and wrist spinners.
However, his insights into the challenges posed by off-spinners painted a more accurate picture of the batting issues that Babar and Kohli were dealing with.
Virat Kohli has been in fine form throughout the ODI World Cup, the ace Indian batter contributed to his team’s four-wicket victory over New Zealand, and in the game against Bangladesh and missed out on the well-deserved century against Sri Lanka and would be keen to continue his fine form heading into the business end of the tournament.