Former Pakistan cricketer Shoaib Akhtar has backed Virat Kohli to come out well in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. He said that if you have to bring the batter in form tell him that there is a match against Pakistan and he will wake up.
India National Cricket Team batter Virat Kohli is short on confidence and hasn’t been able to score as many runs as he would’ve wanted. The premier batter, even though he hit a ton in the first game in Australia, failed in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 as he managed just around 190 runs.
Virat Kohli’s form a concern for India ahead of ICC Champions Trophy 2025
With Kohli not in form, this no doubt will be a big concern for the India National Cricket Team going into the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. However, with the kind of player that he is and ODIs being completely different ball game, it won’t be a surprise if he brings his best in the tournament.
Kohli has been nothing short of exceptional in the ODIs. The premier India National Cricket Team batter was awarded the Player of the Tournament in the ICC World Cup 2023, where he mustered over 750 runs, the most by any batter in a single edition of the tournament.
Virat Kohli has always been at his best in ICC tournaments
Kohli was one of the major reasons behind the India National Cricket Team reaching the final of the ICC World Cup 2023. And with his history of being at his best in the big tournaments, he could be a valuable asset for the team in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025.
Amid his poor form and ICC Champions Trophy 2025 around the corner, Shoaib Akhtar was asked by a reporter: “Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma haven’t scored runs lately. Do you think it will affect them in the upcoming Champions Trophy 2025?”
If you have to wake Virat Kohli up, tell him there is a match against Pakistan and he will wake up – Shoaib Akhtar
Replying to this, Shoaib Akhtar came up with a staggering reply, saying that if you want Kohli to score runs, tell him that there is a match against Pakistan. He stressed that the batter automatically wakes up when India play against arch-rivals.
He also recalled the batter’s innings in Melbourne during the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 before expressing his confidence in Babar Azam returning to form. He explained:
“If you have to wake Virat Kohli up, tell him there is a match against Pakistan and he will wake up. The knock he played in Melbourne. He will wake up. Many players who don’t have problems, come. Hopefully, the Babar Azam of Pakistan will come and he will show his skills.”
Reporter : Virat & Rohit haven’t scored runs lately, do you think it will effect them in CT?
Shoaib Akhtar: If you want to wake Virat Kohli up then just tell him there’s a match against Pak 🤣🔥 pic.twitter.com/UbamHERmfK— Pallavi (@Pallavi_paul21) January 13, 2025
Kohli’s record against Pakistan has been nothing short of exceptional. The India National Cricket Team batter has always brought his best against the arch-rivals. In the 16 ODIs, that he played against them, he scored 678 runs at an average of around 53 to go with three centuries and two half-centuries.