All eyes were on Virat Kohli as the 15th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) began earlier last month in Mumbai as the 33-year-old was featuring only as a batter for the first time in IPL in 11 seasons. He had earlier stepped down from the captaincy position at the end of the 2021 season. Hence, with no captaincy burden on his shoulders, veterans and experts backed the former Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) leader to emulate his 2016 form. However, in five innings, Kohli has only shown a small glimpse of his old form, scoring just 107 runs at 26.8. And Pakistan cricket legend Shoaib Akhtar has issued a massive statement ahead of RCB's match against Delhi Capitals saying that if Kohli continues his poor run of form, he should not be spared and must be dropped.
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Speaking to Sportskeeda ahead of the big game at the Wankhede Stadium, Akhtar admitted that with performance being a key factor in IPL, none, not even Kohli, the highest run-getter in the tournament's history, should be spared. He feels that matters have become dangerous already for the former captain with people pointing their fingers at his poor run of form.
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The former Pakistan pacer also gave an advice to Kohli saying that he wants him to focus on one thing at a time and consider playing as an “ordinary” cricketer leaving aside all the pressure.
“It's a performance based IPL franchise model. No one will be spared, not even Virat Kohli. Even he can be dropped if he does not perform. Some of the things I can't even say now. Not one but there are 10,000 things going on in his head. He is a good person, a good player and great cricketer, but I want him to just focus, on one thing at a time. Consider yourself as a ordinary player, pick up your bat and just play. People have already started pointing fingers at Virat Kohli and it's dangerous,” he said.
Kohli's performance will be key for RCB who will be aiming to move up the points table after winning three games and losing twice in five matches so far.
{{/usCountry}}Kohli's performance will be key for RCB who will be aiming to move up the points table after winning three games and losing twice in five matches so far.
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