As per the former Pakistan international, he thinks that the shortest format of the game drains a lot of energy from someone like Kohli, who is always involved and an excited character on the field.
New Delhi: Legendary Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar feels that ex India captain Virat Kohli should stop playing T20Is and should focus mainly on the Test and the ODI formats.
As per the former Pakistan international, he thinks that the shortest format of the game drains a lot of energy from someone like Kohli, who is always involved and an excited character on the field. So as age will start catching him up on him soon, he should save his body.
“As a cricketer, if you ask me, I feel he should stop playing T20Is and stick with only Test and ODI formats. T20I unki energy bahot nikaal deta hai (T20I format drains a lot of his energy). 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,” Akhtar told Sports Tak.
“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. And India will reserve high praise for him. And all these trash talks about Babar Azam and Virat Kohli – these are great players. Who is bigger than Kohli or Babar in Asia? No one. So all these loose talks are done just to grab attention,” he further added.