Barring Virat Kohli and Kane Williamson, it’s about mediocre captaincy nowadays: Shoaib Akhtar

Former Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar is not happy with the level of captaincy at the international level these days. He finds it ‘disheartening’ that there aren’t a lot of efficient leaders doing the rounds in world cricket. However, he had a couple of exceptions in Virat Kohli and Kane Williamson, the Indian and New Zealand skipper respectively.

Back in September, Virat surpassed MS Dhoni as India’s most successful in the longest format. The Delhi-born now has 30 victories in Test cricket after India took a 2-0 lead in the three-match series against South Africa. The 30-year-old Virat also became the second Indian to lead the national team in 50 Tests along with Dhoni, who had hung his boots back in 2014.

Akhtar lauds Kohli and Williamson

“World is about mediocre captaincy nowadays. It’s very disheartening to see that there are not many great captains in the world anymore apart from Kane Williamson and Virat Kohli,” Akhtar was quoted as saying on his official YouTube channel.

As far as Williamson is concerned, he became the second Black Caps’ skipper to take his team to a World Cup final after Brendon McCullum. In 2019, the Kiwis, under captain Kane, got ever so close to winning the title, but the rub of the green didn’t favour him and his side.

Praising Kohli, Shoaib said that he is someone, who learns from his mistake and has learnt the art of fine-tuning the batting lineup and getting the right combination in place. He even termed Virat as the best skipper in the world, but again sounded disappointed by the rest of them.

Virat Kohli is a fearless captain

“I had earlier said that Virat Kohli will become a good captain after the World Cup because he is learning from his mistakes. He is learning well. He has learnt how to sort out India’s batting order and team composition. Virat Kohli is the best captain in the world but around him there are so many poor captains,” Shoaib mentioned.

Shoaib termed Virat as ‘fearless’ and said his approach has rubbed off positively on the team. “One thing I like about Virat Kohli is that he is a fearless captain. Virat Kohli ran all over South Africa. They (India) have become the best team in the world. They have a great, fearless captain. He puts his country before himself,” the Rawalpindi Express added.

Here is Shoaib’s video