Virat Kohli recently ended his wait for a 71st international century when he made a sparkling 122* off 61 against Afghanistan at the Asia Cup 2022, played in the UAE. It was Kohli’s first century in any form of cricket since November 2019.
In the build up to the continental tournament though, Kohli had taken a break from cricket and later revealed his was struggling mentally. However, with the Asia Cup, where Kohli made 276 runs including a century and two successive half-centuries, the star batter has given a signal that’s he’s back to his old self.
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His return to form was a strong boost for India ahead of the 2022 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup which starts next month.
Keeping his struggles in mind and the gruelling cricket schedule, former Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar has predicted that Kohli could take retirement from T20Is post the World Cup so as to extend his career in ODIs and Test cricket.
“Kohli could take retirement (from T20Is) after the T20 World Cup (in Australia). He might do so as to extend his longevity in the other formats. If I was him, I would have looked at the larger picture and taken a call,” Akhtar told India.com.
Akhtar’s comments have come right after another former Pakistan cricketer had suggested Kohli to not wait to be dropped from the team and draw curtains on his own terms.
“The way Virat has played and the start that he had to his career, there was struggle initially before he made a name for himself. He is a champion (player) and I think there’s time when you are approaching retirement and then, the aim should be to go out on a high,” Afridi said on Same TV.
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“It shouldn’t reach a stage that you get dropped from the team. It rarely happens though (players retiring at their peak). Very few players, especially cricketers from Asian teams make such calls. I feel when Virat does it (retirement), he will do it style and maybe in the same way how he began his career,” Afridi added.
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