Wasim Akram hails Virat Kohli after his retirement: One of the greats of all time

Former Pakistan skipper Wasim Akram showered praise on Virat Kohli after he announced his retirement from T20Is. Kohli was able to end his T20I career on a high, winning the T20 World Cup 2024 as India defeated South Africa by seven runs in the final at Barbados on Saturday.

The talisman didn’t have a great run in the T20I showpiece as could only muster 75 runs in the first seven matches. However, Kohli was able to bring his best in the all-important final against the Proteas as he played a vital knock of 76 runs off 59 balls to help India post 176 runs on the board after they decided to bat first. Thus, he was awarded Player of the Match for his fine knock.

Virat Kohli scored 4188 runs in 125 T20I matches at an average of 48.7 and a strike rate of 137.04 and finished as the second highest run-getter in the format.

Wasim Akram said in a video posted on X, “First of all, Congratulations to India. As I said before the tournament, they were one of the favorites. They have proved it, they remained unbeaten in the tournament. Be it batting, bowling, fielding, bravery, they have played best cricket.”

He added, “At one stage, I thought South Africa would win when they needed a run-a-ball 30 and Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller were going strongly in their partnership. But Bumrah was able to prove his mettle as he got the wickets at the right time.”

Hailing Virat Kohli’s knock of 76 runs, the former gun fast bowler said, “A great player assesses the pitch and plays accordingly and Virat Kohli did exactly that when India lost three early wickets. He wanted to bat long and was okay with a strike rate of run-a-ball as it helped his team in reaching a score of more than 170.”

India was able to come up with a collective effort and their bowlers deserve a lot of credit as South Africa was in a winning position at one stage.