‘Does he really even want to be No. 1 again’ - Shahid Afridi lashes out on Virat Kohli

One of the finest batters to grace the cricket field, Virat Kohli, has always hogged the limelight due to his performances and controversies in the game.

However, he has been facing criticism for the last few months due to his bad form in international cricket and the IPL. 

Kohli scored his last international century against Bangladesh at Eden Gardens in November 2019. Since then, he has been getting good enough starts but has not been able to convert them to a triple-digit score in the 50-overs as well as the longest format. 

In the 2022 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), the 33-year-old managed to score 341 runs in 16 innings at a paltry average of 22.73. 

Taking a dig at the former Indian captain's form, Shahid Afridi has joined the list of critics making remarks on Kohli's slump. Afridi reckoned that the attitude matters the most in the game of cricket and questioned Kohli about his desire to be still the number one batter in the world. 

"In cricket, attitude matters the most. That is what I talk about the most. Do you have the attitude towards cricket or not? That Kohli, earlier in his career, wanted to be the No. 1 batsman in the world… is he still playing cricket with the same motivation? That is the big question," Afridi said on Samaa TV.

The former all-rounder states that the attitude will play a key role in the comeback of Kohli's natural self in all forms of cricket. 

"He has the class. But does he really even want to be No. 1 again? Or does he think he has achieved everything in life? Now just relax and pass time? It's all about attitude," he added. 

Kohli was rested for the ongoing five-match T20I series against South Africa to allow him to get a rest ahead of the England Tour containing one-off Test, 3 ODIs and as many T20Is. 

In the latter half of IPL 2022, Kohli had discussed his form and opined on the cricket fraternity, suggesting him to take a break from the game. 

The 33-year-old had said that playing non-stop cricket across all three formats for the last 10-11 years takes a toll on the body and stressed on the fact of him being an Indian captain for seven years as well. 

"It's not a lot of people who mentioned it (taking a break). There is one person precisely who has mentioned it, which is Ravi Bhai, and that's because he has seen from close quarters over the last six-seven years the reality of the situation that I have been in. 

"The amount of cricket that I have played and the ups and downs and the toll that it takes on you to play three formats of the game plus the IPL for 10-11 years non-stop with the seven years of captaincy in between."