Ganguly Slams Akhtar: “He should quit the white ball cricket after this world cup and focus on Test cricket,” these were a few words making headlines in the past few hours from Sohaib Akhtar and Ganguly slammed Akhtar for the same statement. Shoaib Akhtar’s “Virat Kohli retirement theory” received an extremely crushing response from Sourav Ganguly that would make the former Pakistani pacer hushed.
Even though Sourav Ganguly and Virat Kohli aren’t the greatest of friends, they both share the same ambition to elevate Indian cricket to novel heights. Ganguly did it from 2000 to 2005 while serving as captain, while Kohli did it from 2015 to 2021.
Given their prior experiences, they might differ on everything, but Ganguly always stood by Kohli when he was under fire. When Shoaib Akhtar gave intriguing advice regarding Virat’s future, Dada stepped out to back him.
Akhtar on Friday said that, “I would suggest Virat to quit the white ball after this World Cup and should focus on Test cricket and aim to equal the Sachin Tendulkar’s record of century of centuries. He should be more health conscious and should not aim for stats other than 100 centuries.”
He also praised his MCG innings against Pakistan in T20 World Cup. “That match was all about Kohli. The cricket gods wanted to do it for him. He wasn’t in the best of form and was facing a lot of heat from you guys in India. The media was after him. It was God’s way of telling him – this is your stage, come and become king again.” he added.
“If you see all that transpired, rain and a lot of it, 100,000 people, 1.3 billion Indians watching, 30 crore Pakistanis watching, the whole world in awe – the stage was set for Kohli. It was the greatest stage of all. When you add the two sixes he hit off Haris Rauf, that match gave him back his kingdom. I think it was all destined for him on that day at the MCG,” he concluded.
Virat last played in the shortest format in the T20 World Cup in Australia. Hardik Pandya has been leading in T20s, with Dravid opting for a reboot. Virat has wonderful T20I stats in 115 matches with a total of 4008 runs averaging over 50 and a strike rate of 140. Now 34, Akhtar reckons Virat should call it quits from both ODIs and T20Is to ‘prolong his Test career’.
Ganguly slams Akhtar
Afterward, DADA delivered a response so straightforward it would have made Akhtar clam up. The former India captain disagreed with Akhtar’s analysis and encouraged Kohli to play whatever he would like.
“Why?,” said Saurav. “Virat Kohli should play whatever cricket he wants to play. Because he performs,” said Ganguly with mic-drop fashion.
As India enters a period of transition, Virat’s future has generated a lot of discussion. The former India captain, who fell short in the World Test Championship Final, will try to succeed in the forthcoming Asia Cup and World Cup.
READ: ICC World Cup 2023: Men’s ODI Batting Player Rankings, Ranks 1 to 10!
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