Journalist friends had told me Virat Kohli will be forced to leave India's Test captaincy: Shoaib Akhtar

Former Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar has made a shocking revelation that his journalist's friends from India told the former that Virat Kohli would be forced to leave the Test captaincy. Akhtar added that he was in Dubai when his friends told him the story. Kohli stepped down from the Test captaincy after India lost the Test series against South Africa. The position is left vacant as the new skipper is yet to be announced.

The 33-year-old, in September 2021, announced that he will step down from the T20I leadership after T20 World Cup in the UAE Ahead of the South Africa tour, he was removed from the ODI captaincy and was replaced by Rohit Sharma. However, Sharma missed out on the entire tour due to a hamstring injury. He is expected to make a comeback in the limited-overs series against West Indies at home.

Meanwhile, the Rawalpindi Express has said that the Indian team is standing at a pinnacle point at the moment. He added that they have to move ahead and move past everything.

"The Indian team is standing at a pinnacle point at the moment. They have to go ahead and move past everything. But I want to talk about the fiasco surrounding Virat Kohli and his captaincy. When I was in Dubai, some journalists from India, who are my friends, had informed me exactly what was going to happen with Kohli. I thought that he might continue as Test captain but it happened just as my friends from India had told me. I will not take their names. They had told me that Virat might be forced to leave India's Test captaincy," Akhtar said on his YouTube channel.

Ravi Shastri did a great job as a coach: Shoaib Akhtar

Akhtar added that former India head coach did a great job as a coach. He opined that the team needed a father figure and Shastri played his role with perfection.

"Ravi Shastri did a great job as coach. India needed a father figure and he performed that role with perfection. Now, Shastri and Kohli, who were part of the management, are out. So that fact that India have collapsed in terms of performances, what does it demonstrate? Is there a divide in the team? Are they not playing together for the country? These are questions that have no answer. A rift is visible in this team and it will be interesting to see what the management does to get rid of it," he mentioned.