Virat Kohli to play for Afghanistan? Captain Hashmatullah Shahidi drops bombshell

Afghanistan Test and ODI captain Hashmatullah Shahidi recently picked the only Indian cricketer he would love to have on his cricket team. Hashmatullah Shahidi also expressed admiration for star Indian batter Virat Kohli, adding that his numbers across formats in cricket speak for himself.

Hashmatullah was the captain of the Afghanistan team that registered a historic 2-1 series ODI win against South Africa in Sharjah.

Afghanistan started the series with a victory by six wickets during the series opener. They bundled out the opposition team for just 106 runs in the first ODI.

The Afghanistan national cricket team registered a 177-run victory in the second match to clinch the series.

However, South Africa avoided a whitewash by beating Afghanistan by seven wickets in the dead rubber. Shahidi registered scores of 16 and 10 the two times he batted in the series.

Virat Kohli's Stats Speak For Himself - Hashmatullah Shahidi

In an appearance on Shubhankar Mishra's YouTube channel, Hashmatullah Shahidi spoke about various aspects of cricket and his life. When asked which Indian cricketer he would like to have on the Afghanistan team, Shahidi picked Virat Kohli.

The 29-year-old cricketer praised Kohli for his remarkable achievements and especially highlighted his 50 centuries in ODIs.

The Afghanistan left-handed batter emphasized that consistently scoring at that level is something very big.

"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 massive achievement. It is very easy to say, but going out and hitting hundreds as many as fifty times is something very big. His stats speak for himself," Shahidi said.

Afghanistan had a memorable run in the 2023 ODI World Cup under Hashmatullah Shahidi's captaincy.

They secured victories against England, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka during the league stage. However, Afghanistan narrowly missed out on a semifinal spot as they finished in sixth place in the table.

Virat Kohli Last Seen In Action During Chennai Test Match

Talking about Virat Kohli, he is the only cricketer to score 50 international centuries in the 50-over format. Virat Kohli surpassed Sachin Tendulkar's (49) tally during the 2023 ODI World Cup semifinal. Kohli achieved the milestone during the semifinal against New Zealand in Mumbai.

Kohli finished as the leading run-getter in last year's ODI World Cup.

However, the Men in Blue fell short of 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 three formats of the game.

The Delhi-born cricketer is currently part of the Indian team for the Test series against Bangladesh at home.

Kohli failed to make an impact with the bat during the first Test in Chennai. He recorded scores of six and 17. The second Test is scheduled to take place in Kanpur from Friday, September 27.

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