I was better off not bowling at all when Kohli was batting: Shoaib Akhtar

Indian captain Virat Kohli might have a super hectic schedule but he did take time out between the ODI and T20I series to feature on his friend Gaurav Kapoor chat show. It was a candid interaction and they covered a whole lot of matter one of which was the bowler he dreaded to face. Virat said he would like to be at the non-striker’s end when Shoaib Akhtar was bowling.

The Pakistan fast bowler holds the record for bowling the fastest delivery in International cricket and till the time he played his cricket ran in ferociously and challenged the best of the bowlers. Kohli said that he never faced Akhtar but witnessed his bowling from the other end in Dambulla during the Asia Cup and though he was inching towards the twilight of his career looked lethal.

“I never faced Shoaib Akhtar but I saw him bowl in Dambulla. Even in the latter part of his career, he looked lethal. After watching Shoaib Akhtar, I thought when he was at his peak, would’ve been better to be at non-striker’s end when he was bowling,” he said.

Shoaib who had some of the most intriguing contests with master blaster Sachin Tendulkar came across the quotes from Virat on social media and tweeted the picture with Virat’s quote on his Twitter handle. In the 140 characters available he said, “I was better off not bowling at all when Kohli was batting. Jokes apart, he is a great batsman and bowling against him would have been a great contest.”

I was better off not bowling at all when #Kohli was batting.Jokes apart,he’s a gr8 batsman & bowling agnst him wud have been a gr8 contest.

I was better off not bowling at all when #Kohli was batting.Jokes apart,he's a gr8 batsman & bowling agnst him wud have been a gr8 contest. pic.twitter.com/EHL32UpXrU

— Shoaib Akhtar (@shoaib100mph) November 4, 2017

While Akhtar was known as the Rawalpindi express for his pace, the Indian batter is better known as King Kohli or as a modern-day master of the game having achieved tremendous success in his comparatively young career.