Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar has said he wants to see Virat Kohli break the legendary Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 100 centuries in international cricket. The former Indian captain is currently going through a century drought, having scored his last international century in 2019 against Bangladesh in Kolkata.
Kohli has looked in decent touch in the Asia Cup so far. He has scored two half-centuries and played a crucial knock of 35 runs in the continental tournament opener last Sunday. The ace batter looked in superlative touch in the Super 4 clash against arch-rivals Pakistan.
Shoaib Akhtar agreed Virat Kohli is still not on top of his game and suggested waiting till the T20 World Cup 2022 if the shortest format is still a viable option for him going ahead.
“Virat Kohli hasn’t been middling the ball really well. Both innings were quite patchy. He scored 59, I wish him the best. Mera ye hi mashwara hoga Kohli ko ki dekh lo World Cup tak (My only suggestion to Kohli is to just wait till the T20 World Cup), if this format suits your or doesn’t suit you. 30 centuries karni hain aur aage (you have to score 30 more centuries),” Akhtar said in a video on his YouTube channel.
“I really want him to score a 100 centuries” – Shoaib Akhtar on Virat Kohli
Shoaib Akhtar insisted that scoring the remaining 30 centuries will be the toughest ones for Virat Kohli. However, he backed the ace Indian batter to topple Sachin Tendulkar‘s record of 100 international tons.
“You can become the greatest player forever. You have to convince yourself that you are the greatest ever. This is going to be the hardest 30 centuries — if he scores. When he goes to the longest formats, he will get time to settle. Here, he is trying but the time is less, you have to maintain a good strike rate, you have to ensure the team wins,” said Akthar.
“He is positive, he is aggressive.. he is a great player, but I really want him to score a 100 centuries and break Sachin Tendulkar’s record. It looks impossible right now, but this man can do it,” he added.
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