Afridi’s retirement advice to Virat Kohli: ‘Shouldn’t reach a stage where he…’ | Cricket

At 33, Virat Kohli has at least three-four more years of cricket left in him, if not more. Kohli, the former India captain, has been the face of Indian cricket even before MS Dhoni retired. Reaching the pinnacle of batting and then captaining the Indian team on his way to becoming the most successful Test skipper, Kohli has left an unparalleled legacy, a legacy that will take a lot of effort to match. With every match, Kohli registers some record which proves the greatness of the man.

But like all good things, Kohli’s career too will eventually draw curtains and when the time comes, it will be interesting to see the note he leaves behind. The last two years have not been the best for Kohli as the former Indian captain struggled to score centuries that he would once peel off in almost every series with ease. But taking a break and scoring a century against Afghanistan – his maiden T20I hundred – in the recently concluded Asia Cup 2022 is perhaps the second wind Kohli’s career needs at this stage.

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Considering the prospect of Kohli’s future retirement, former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi hailed Virat for a stellar career and believes that when the time comes, he expects the star batter to go out on a high rather than a pale shadow of his dominant self . .

“The way Virat has played, the start he had to his career, there was struggle in the beginning before he made his mark. He is a champion and I believe there comes a stage where you are towards retirement. But in that scenario, the goal should be to go out on a high,” Afridi said on Samaa TV.

With Kohli playing all three formats, it is only a matter of time before he gives up one to concentrate on the other two, as England’s Ben Stokes did recently. With players from the subcontinent not known to time their retirements right, Afridi is confident that Kohli, with nearly 24,000 international runs, will be an exception and finish his career on top of his batting prowess.

“It shouldn’t get to a stage where you get dropped from the team and instead when you’re at your peak. It rarely happens though. Very few players, especially Asia Cup cricketers, take that decision but I feel when Virat does what he will do is the style and probably the same way he started his career,” added the former all-rounder.