Popular cricketer Virat Kohli recently stepped down as India's T20I captain to manage his workload.
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Former Pakistan cricketer Shahid Afridi believes that Team India skipper Virat Kohli should step down from captaincy in all formats of the game. Kohli recently announced his decision to give up his role as the national team’s captain for the shortest format of the game. Rohit Sharma has been announced as captain of the team for their upcoming T20I series against New Zealand. He is expected to replace Kohli as skipper permanently. Afridi believes that the Team India cricketer will be able to concentrate on batting freely in his remaining years as a player.
“I think he has been a wonderful force for Indian cricket but I think it would be best if he decided to retire as captain in all formats now,” Afridi said on Samaa television channel.
“I think Virat should step down as captain and just enjoy his remaining cricket which I think aplenty. He is a top batsman and he can play freely without any other pressures on his mind. He will enjoy his cricket. I have played with Rohit for a year and he is an outstanding player with a top mentality. His biggest asset is he can stay relaxed where required and show aggression when it is needed the most. He is a top level player with terrific shot selection and he has the mentality to be a good leader of the players,” added the former Pakistan cricketer.
Afridi was further critical of pacer Shaheen Afridi, who conceded three consecutive sixes in the recently concluded semi-final of the ongoing T20 World Cup 2021 against Australia.
“I am not happy with Shaheen in one area. Okay so Hasan Ali dropped a catch but that does not mean you will bowl badly and get hit for three successive sixes. Shaheen has so much pace and he should have used it sensibly. Even if the catch was dropped. He should have used his head and tried to bowl outside off stump fast Yorkers with his pace. He is not that sort of bowler to be hit like that,” stated the former Pakistan captain.
“I would say he was brilliant in the tournament and I have only seen either Wasim bhai (Akram) or perhaps Muhammad Amir bowl like this with the new ball. He is giving good performances. I hope he learns from this cricket experience and prepares himself for the future,” he added.
While Afridi was critical of Shaheen, what cannot be denied is the prowess of Matthew Wade who smashed those sixes against the pacer.
“Absolutely (preempted the scoops). I was talking to Stoinis at the other end and tried to work out what they’re doing. I got a little more pace on than expected, I probably could have used it a little bit earlier, but yeah.. glad to get a couple at the end. There wasn’t a lot of chat before I went in as we lost quick wickets. But when I got out there, Me and Marcus had batted together in the first game and got some momentum today as well. I was a bit unsure but Marcus showed me the way out,” said Wade as quoted by Cricbuzz.
