Star batter Babar Azam has responded to criticism from former Pakistan players, asserting that there should be no room for 'below the belt' attacks on individuals. While admitting that facing scrutiny is part of the job, Babar claimed that 'personal attacks' have become far too common, especially within the Pakistan cricketing landscape. The former captain also sympathized with teammate Shadab Khan for speaking out against criticism from ex-players following the team's early exit from the T20 World Cup earlier this year. Responding to the likes of Shahid Afridi and Mohammad Yousuf, Shadab directed a sharp retort at the former players, noting that they were never part of a team that defeated India in a World Cup game. His comments have sparked a massive furore back in Pakistan. "When they speak about things, it's right, but if the current player has said something, it's not right. Anyway, it's a different ball game. Shadab said something in the...
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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