“I would have not even married”: Shoaib Akhtar reckons Virat Kohli’s marriage as the reason for downfall in batting form

Shoaib Akhtar reckons Virat Kohli’s marriage has led to latter’s lapse of concentration and thereby has resulted in his dip of batting form.

Team India’s star batter Virat Kolhi has become a hot topic point in the Cricketing fraternity. While his decision to quit Test captaincy had raised quite a many eyebrows, his elusive 71st International century have led to people debating and discussing around the reasons for the same.

However, former Pakistani pacer Shoaib Akhtar has come up with a strange reason altogether for Kohli’s rough patch of form. As per Akhtar, it is the pressure of marriage and the responsibilities that come with it, that has had a detrimental effect on the star batter’s game.

Moreover, the 46-year-old was also of the view that it had been better of if Kolhi was not made the captain of the Indian Cricket team at all, and that he would have just liked him to keep piling on runs for himself, his team, and his countless fans without any additional pressure.

Ravi Shastri tells me Virat Kohli could have carried on for at least two more years as Test captain but India would have won a lot of Tests at home and a lot of people would have not been able to digest his success. #ViratKohli

— Rahul Rawat (@rawatrahul9) January 23, 2022

Shoaib Akhtar reckons Virat Kohli’s marriage could have waited

During an interaction with Dainik Jagran, Akhtar remarked “I would have not even married if I were in his place. I had just scored runs and enjoyed cricket; these 10-12 years of cricket are different time and doesn’t come again. I am not saying getting married is wrong but If you are playing for India, you would have enjoyed a time a little. Fans are crazy about Kohli and he had to maintain that love he is getting for the last 20 years.”

The Pakistani legend also admitted and maintained that the pressure of marriage does affect a player’s game.

“There is pressure from the children, of the family. As the responsibility increases, so does the pressure. Cricketers have a short career span of 14-15 years in which you stay at the peak for five-six years. Those years of Virat have passed, now he has to struggle.

“As a captain, you have to think a lot. I am not against marriage but I believe play while playing, there shouldn’t be much pressure, play freely, pick up your things and play fiercely. I got married when I retired from the captain. As a captain, you have to face the media, the brand, all the things which come with it,” he further added.