Recently, the Indian skipper Virat Kohli has left most of the fans and former cricketers divided over his approach to the game Down Under, another former great from our neighboring country has come out supporting him. Shoaib Akhtar reckons that aggression is all the more a part and parcel of the game when a player is competing in Australia, one of the toughest countries in the international circuit to play cricket.
Kohli was immensely scrutinized from a number of former players both from India and Australia for his offensive gesture shown during the second Test against Australia in Perth. He was caught having a verbal banter with his Australian counterpart Tim Paine in Perth which though was not about anger but yet it did not go down well with many. Even veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah called the Indian captain the “worst behaved player in the world” adding more to the controversy.
WATCH – News Reporter Asks Inappropriate Question To Shoaib Akhtar
However, Pakistan’s former pacer was no less aggressive during his playing days, especially against teams like India and Australia, stood by Kohli saying in a tweet that aggression is a part and parcel of competitive cricket, particularly when the venue is Australia. He referred to Virat as one of the “modern greats” of cricket and asked people to cut the latter some slack. He also said that aggression is fine as long as it is within the limits.
@imVkohli is one of the modern greats of the game. Aggression has been a part & parcel of competitive cricket, specially when you are playing Down Under as long as it stays in limit. Please cut him some slack.
— Shoaib Akhtar (@shoaib100mph) December 20, 2018
Kohli scored a mind-boggling century in the game in Perth but yet could not save his team from losing the game by 146 runs and allowing the Kangaroos to level the series 1-1, thanks to a collective failure with the bat. He also attracted criticism for not leaving the wicket at once after getting caught in the slips at a very low height.
The inaugural Test in Perth will be remembered as one between Kohli versus Australia for a number of instances the Indian skipper found himself having banter with the opponent.
