Shoaib Akhtar, the legendary Pakistan pacer firmly believes that Indian skipper — Virat Kohli is the best player in the world by a mile. Akhtar has featured in 46 Tests, 163 one-dayers and 15 T20Is for Pakistan picking up 178, 247 and 19 wickets respectively.
Shoaib Akhtar is recognized as the fastest bowler in cricket history and was nicknamed as ‘Rawalpindi Express’ as a tribute to his hometown and fast bowling.
Shoaib Akhtar played for Pakistan from 1997 to 2011 and his career was plagued with injuries, controversies and poor attitude accusations. Kohli, on the other hand, is the current Indian skipper and captains Royal Challengers Bangalore for which he captained since 2013 in IPL.
Virat Kohli debuted way back in 2008 and has featured in 86 Tests, 248 one-dayers and 82 T20Is and averages more than 50 in each of the three formats.
Shoaib Akhtar Lashes Out At Critics Who Refuse To Praise Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli has already scored 11,867 runs in 248 ODIs being the top-ranked batsman in one-dayers since 2017. He is currently 2nd in Test rankings. He has 27 Test, 43 ODI centuries to his name and his total 70 international centuries is second in the world behind only legendary countryman Sachin Tendulkar who has exactly 100 to his name.
The pacer’s comments came as he was lashing out at everyone who criticized him for praising Indian players like Virat Kohli. The 45-year-old said he doesn’t know why people are angry and told them to look at the statistics of Virat Kohli first before criticizing him.
“Why should I not praise Indian players and Virat Kohli? Is there any player in Pakistan, or all over the world, which comes close to Kohli? I don’t know why people are angry, they should go look at the stats first before criticising me,” Shoaib Akhtar told Cricket Pakistan. “There was a time when Indians wanted to be like Pakistan players but now it’s the other way around,” Shoaib Akther said.
Virat Kohli holds the world record for being fastest to 8,000, 9,000, 10,000 and 11,000 runs in ODI. He received the country’s highest sporting honour Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna in 2018. He took over as Test captain from his predecessor MS Dhoni in 2014 and has been the captain in 2017 in all formats.
Virat Kohli’s Statistical Highlights
Virat Kohli has scored over 300 runs in bilateral ODI series on six occasions, unlike other players who cannot do it more than four times. He achieved the rare distinction of being the only batsman to average more than 50 in all three formats.
Kohli was also the first batsman to score three double tons in two consecutive years in Tests. He became the first captain to smash six ODI tons in a calendar year. He has scored six double centuries in Tests which is the most by any captain. He has scored the most number of ODI tons as Indian skipper.
Virat Kohli has scored the most number of the fifties in T20Is and is the fastest to reach 1000 T20I runs. He has the fastest ODI ton by an Indian. He is the first-ever batsman to score double hundreds in four consecutive test series.