In the Asia Cup last month, Team India’s Virat Kohli returned to form.
In spite of India being knocked out in the Super 4 stages, he scored the highest for the team and the second highest for the competition. Kohli scored 276 runs in five matches, including a century against Afghanistan in India’s final match at a strike rate of 147.59.
Kohli became the joint-second highest centurion in international cricket after equaling Ricky Ponting’s record (71). Almost a month after Kohli’s century, however, Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ramiz Raja made a rather unusual comment about him and Babar Azam, Pakistan’s skipper.
After Pakistan lost the Asia Cup final and the seven-match T20I series against England, the PCB chairman discussed recent criticism of the team. According to him, Kohli’s century against Afghanistan overshadowed India’s poor performance in the Asia Cup, and he compared Indian and Pakistani fans.
I think India should have been harshly criticized for not making the final, but that’s not what their fans or media do. I’ll tell you…when Virat Kohli scored a century against Afghanistan, they forgot about the entire Asia Cup. Will we ever do that?” Ramiz had asked Samaa TV in a chat.
Salman Butt, ex-captain of Pakistan’s cricket team, fired back at Ramiz for his “dig” at Kohli after Ramiz made the comment.
“Aap relevant example bhi nahi de sakte. Vo duniya ka top player, he’s only the second (third) player in cricket history to score 70+ hundred. I’m not sure… Beherhaal is frustrated. Maybe he has some news, jo baakiyon ko kuch dino baad milegi. Unhone aur bhi kayi baat ki hai jinka koi mettle ya logic nahi tha. Bas satehi baatein ki hain (You can’t even provide relevant examples). Only third in cricket history with 70+ international tons, he is frustrated. Maybe he knows something others will not find out for a few days. He said a lot of other things without logic. “It’s just superficial talks”, Butt said on his official YouTube channel.
