'It was destined for him on that day at MCG' - Shoaib Akhtar makes prophetic statement while praising Virat Kohli on his 15 years in international cricket

Former legendary Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar was all praises for the former Indian skipper and the modern-day batting great, Virat Kohli. Akhtar lauded the 34-year-old on his 15 years in international cricket. Notably, on the 18^th of August, the 19-year-old Virat Kohli made his international debut 15 years back in the year 2008.

He opened the innings with Gautam Gambhir in the first ODI of the five-match series between India and Sri Lanka, played at Dambulla. Kohli appeared in all five matches of that ODI series and also scored his career’s first half-century in the fourth ODI of the series against Sri Lanka.

"That match gave him back his kingdom." - Shoaib Akhtar on Kohli's heroics against Pakistan in T20 World Cup 2022

Coming back to Akhtar’s statement, he paid his tribute to the batting maestro with a very big and prophetic statement, during a conversation with Boria Majumdar on RevSportz.

"That match was all about Virat Kohli. The cricket Gods wanted to do it for him. He wasn't in the best of form and was facing a lot of heat from you guys in India. The media was after him. It was as of God was telling him – this is your stage, come and become king again. If you see all that transpired – rain and a lot of it, 100,000 people, 1.3 billion Indians watching, 30 crore Pakistanis watching, the whole world in awe – the stage was set for Kohli. It was the greatest stage of all. When you add the two sixes that he hit off Haris Rauf, that match gave him back his kingdom. I think it was all destined for him on that day at the MCG," said Akhtar to Boria Majumdar on the show ‘Backstage with Boria’.

Speaking of Kohli, he is currently preparing for his next assignment with Team India, he will be in action with the men in blue in the upcoming Asia Cup 2023. Apart from this, the upcoming ODI World Cup 2023, in India is also going to be very crucial for Virat Kohli as it will be his fourth appearance in the ODI World Cup for India.