Virat Kohli Was a 'Brat' Like Me, His Transformation is Commendable: Shoaib Akhtar

Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar has always been vocal about his liking for India skipper Virat Kohli, and once again he has talked about latter's sensational transformation. Akhtar called him a 'brat' for the first few years of international cricket, but also complemented him for his sudden transformation.

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“Virat Kohli has reached a whole new level, but who is behind the Kohli brand? In 2010, 2011, Kohli was nowhere to be seen. He was part of the circle; he was a brat like me. All of a sudden, the system supported him. The management went around him. He also realised that there’s a lot of reputation at stake,” Akhtar said on a YouTube Show Cricket Baaz.

He even compared his credentials with that of Sachin Tendulkar, and said that Master Blaster played in a much difficult era. “It’s not his fault that he’s playing in an era of easy cricket, or if Sachin played in a tougher era or Wasim, Waqar and Inzamam have player a much more competitive brand of cricket. So if he’s scoring runs, what we can say about it?” Akhtar said.

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Recently Akhtar was criticized for showing his support to top Indian batsmen, and not as much to the Pakistani players. To this also he had responded strongly and said, “I criticize India as well. But if Virat Kohli has 12,000 runs, what else you can say, Rohit Sharma has two double centuries in One Day cricket, what can you say. The enemy’s qualities should be known among us. Kohli has become the greatest batsman, what can you say, should I say he is a bad person or he is not a good player,” Akhtar said.