Afghanistan Test and ODI captain Hashmatullah Shahidi recently picked the only Indian cricketer he wanted in his cricket team. Hashmatullah Shahidi also expressed his admiration for Indian star batsman Virat Kohli and added that all formats in cricket speak for him.
Hashmatullah captained the Afghanistan team that recorded a historic 2-1 ODI series win against South Africa in Sharjah.
Afghanistan started the series with a six-wicket lead in the series opener. In the first ODI, they bundled out the opposition team for just 106 runs.
Afghanistan national cricket team advanced to the series with a 177-run victory in the second match.
However, South Africa avoided a cry by beating Afghanistan by seven wickets in a dead rubber. Shahidi scored 16 and 10 points when he batted twice in the series.
Virat Kohli’s Stats Speak For Themselves – Hashmatullah Shahidi
Appearing on Shubhankar Mishra’s YouTube channel, Hashemtullah Shahidi spoke about various aspects of cricket and his life. When asked which Indian cricketer he would like to have in the Afghanistan team, Shahidi chose Virat Kohli.
The 29-year-old cricketer praised Kohli for his remarkable achievements and highlighted his 50 centuries in ODIs in particular.
The left-handed batsman from Afghanistan emphasized that it is a big thing to score consistently at this level.
“There are many, but I would go with Virat Kohli. Look at his stats and his performance. He has 50 hundreds in ODIs, which is a huge achievement. It’s easy to say, but he goes out and scores so many hundreds. Because fifty times his stats are so much it’s a big thing,” Shahidi said.
Afghanistan had a memorable run in the 2023 ODI World Cup under the captaincy of Hashemtullah Shahid.
They won the league stage against England, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. However, Afghanistan narrowly missed out on a place in the semi-finals as they finished sixth in the table.
Virat Kohli was last seen in action during the Chennai Test Match
Talking about Virat Kohli, he is the only cricketer to score 50 international centuries in 50+ formats. Virat Kohli outscores Sachin Tendulkar (49) in semi-final of ODI World Cup 2023. Kohli achieved this milestone in the semi-final against New Zealand in Mumbai.
Kohli finished last year’s ODI World Cup as the leading run-getter.
However, the Men in Blue were denied the title after losing to Australia in the summit clash at the Narendra Modi Stadium. Kohli is the fourth leading run-getter in international cricket across all three formats of the game.
The Delhi-born cricketer is currently part of the Indian squad for the Test series against Bangladesh at home.
Kohli failed to make an impact with the bat during the first Test in Chennai. He scored six and 17 points. The second Test is scheduled to be played in Kanpur from Friday, September 27.
Also read: Ben Stokes names Shahid Afridi for ICC Champions Trophy 2025 after England’s Brendon McCullum move.
