Shoaib Akhtar says comments made by Ian Healy switched on Kohli & Co

Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar popularly known as the Rawalpindi Express has hailed Indian captain Virat Kohli for leading his side to an exceptional victory and said that the comments made by Ian Healy only fired him and his team to perform better. Taking to his twitter handle Akhtar wrote, “If anything @Iheals comments on @imVkohli may have switched him & his team on even more. Sorry Heals this was a self-goal!”

If anything @Iheals comments on @imVkohli may have switched him & his team on even more. Sorry Heals this was a self-goal!

— Shoaib Akhtar (@shoaib100mph) March 7, 2017

Healy criticised Kohli after his on-field banter with the Australian players on Day 2 of the 2nd Test in Bangalore. Healy said that Kohli’s behaviour was unacceptable and he was losing respect for him. “I’m losing respect for him. He’s not only now continuing his disrespect of the Australian players and umpires, but I think he’s putting pressure on his own players,” Healy was quoted as saying by radio station SEN on Monday.

“The stuff he did with Steve Smith was unacceptable. There are massive cracks showing in [Kohli]. I’ve said in the past he’s the best batsman I’ve ever seen. His feistiness and real aggression towards the opposition has been good [in the past], especially when he wasn’t captain. Kohli’s aggression was good for them, but I think it’s not good for them anymore,” he had further said.

Responding to his remarks in the post-match press conference Kohli said that there are 1.2 billion people in India and one person doesn’t make a difference in his life. He further alleged him as a hypocrite. “We’ve got 1.2 billion people in India, one person doesn’t make a difference to my life. Also, you need to go and search on YouTube when he was given out down the leg side – I heard he said something about me not having good behaviour with the umpires. I think you all should YouTube that video and I think that says it all,” Kohli said.

Also read: Mitchell Johnson asks Kohli to be more courteous, gets trolled in Twitter

India made a brilliant comeback in the 2nd Test after conceding a substantial lead in the 1st innings. Heroics from Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane who shared a magnificent partnership for the 6th wicket helped India stage a dramatic comeback but with the loss of last 6 wickets for only 35 runs, India could manage to set the Australians a total of 188 to chase in the final innings.

Ravichandran Ashwin bagged his 25th 5 wicket haul as India bowled out the Aussies for only 112. Pacers Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav also bowled splendidly which helped India register a dramatic come from behind victory.