’30 centuries karni hain aur aage’: Shoaib Akhtar backs Virat Kohli to break Sachin’s 100 centuries record
India will take on Pakistan in an Asia Cup T20 match for the second Sunday in a row. The two-arch rivals faced each other in Dubai on August 28 during a Group A match, in which India won by 5 wickets. And now they will again be up against each other in the Super 4. It will be a new start for both the teams as the result of the group stage match won’t have any impact here.
India will have to start from zero and deliver till the last ball of the game to get a positive result. Even though India will be high on morale after the first win, they can’t afford to take Pakistan lightly as they are also in good headspace after securing a big 155-run win over Hong Kong in their must-win Group A game on Friday (September 2).
For India in this Asia Cup so far, Virat Kohli has performed well. Even though his strike rate is not that great, he still has got runs under his belt and that’s positive news for India, especially when the T20 World Cup is scheduled to start in just a little more than a month’s time.
Virat has done well in the Asia Cup and has looked in good rhythm. He made 35 against Pakistan and then remained unbeaten on 59 against Hong Kong, but former Pakistani pacer Shoaib Akhtar feels that Kohli might have to give up one format (T20I) of the game if he wants to break Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 100 centuries in international cricket.
“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 on his official YouTube channel.
Virat currently has 70 centuries to his name, but the last one of them came almost three years ago, in November 2019, against Bangladesh in Kolkata. Since then, he has failed to break the duck and his form has also dropped.
“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. 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,” Akhtar added.
