Former captain Azhar Ali has expressed deep dismay over the ongoing crisis in Pakistan cricket following the team making wholesale changes to its squad on the ongoing Test tour of England, adding that the side has become consistent in the most negative way. Azhar's scathing assessment comes in the wake of severe fallout after heavy defeats at Headingley and Lord's, which saw head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed and bowling coach Umar Gul being relieved of their duties and seven players sent home. The turmoil has drawn widespread criticism, with Shahid Afridi calling it ‘the most shocking decision ever' and Misbah-ul-Haq resigning as a selector in protest. "People used to say you could expect anything from Pakistan – that any team could turn up on any given day and either be 46 all out or win from nowhere. But we don't even do that inconsistency any more. We've become totally consistent – in the most negative way. “Cricket in Pakistan needs proper care and a vision tha...
Star India batter Virat Kohli enjoys a huge fan following and his popularity across the border, Pakistan, is no secret. Ahead of the Champions Trophy, which will be played in Pakistan and UAE (only India matches) under the hybrid model, Kohli chants gripped the National Stadium in Karachi as fans showered their love towards the former India captain. In fact, a fan even raised chants of "Virat Kohli zindabaad" (long live Virat Kohli) chants outside the stadium. The incident took place after after the tri-nation series final between Pakistan and New Zealand on Friday.
A video of the same incident has now gone viral on social media. In the video, a fan, introduced himself by the name of Karan, labelled himself as Kohli's biggest fan. He even revealed that people in his neighbourhood call him 'Kohli'.
KOHLI KOHLI chants outside Karachi stadium after #PAKvNZ
— HARSH (@harsh_dean) February 14, 2025
game
A man even said Virat Kohli zindabad in Pakistan
Truly face of world Cricket.#ViratKohli pic.twitter.com/n7oCtMRqyc
In the same video, some fans were also seen making "RCB, RCB" chants.
Amid uncertainity over his future in the Indian team, former England captain Kevin Pietersen backed Kohli to silence his critics, just like he has done in the past.
While speaking on Star Sports, Pietersen said: "He is one of the greats of the game. There have been too many people who have written him off on too many occasions. You can't write these guys off because of the aura they have when they walk out to bat. The question mark comes down to Virat Kohli."
"The question mark doesn't come down to me, you, the selectors, the coaches, and the other players. Virat Kohli can only answer the question, in terms of how long he wants to continue, and how much fight he has to get better and to create those high standards that everybody expects from him," he added.
The Indian team left for Dubai on Saturday, five days ahead of their Champions Trophy opener against Bangladesh.
India's squad for ICC Champions Trophy, 2025: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill (Vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (WK), Rishabh Pant (WK), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohd. Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Varun Chakaravarthy.
Non-travelling substitutes: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Mohammed Siraj and Shivam Dube. The three players will travel to Dubai as and when required.
from NDTV News- Special https://ift.tt/KJ7Osuh
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