"Virat shouldn't have said it": Former Pakistan captain shares his stance on Kohli-Gavaskar outburst

The verbal altercation between former Indian and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) skipper and India great Sunil Gavaskar is the most recent controversy to come out of the ongoing season of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2024). 

Kohli has been strongly criticised for his strike rate this season. As a response during a post-match interview, Virat Kohli made an explosive remark hinting that pundits are only talk and nothing else. 

To that, a miffed Sunil Gavaskar said,

 "All these guys talk about, 'oh we don't care about outside noise'. Accha! Then why are you replying to any outside noise or whatever it is. We all played a bit of cricket, not a lot of cricket. We don't have agendas." 

What could have stopped there got fuelled further after the broadcasters played repeated highlights of the Kohli interview prior to RCB's return fixture against the Gujarat Titans (GT) which irked the former great. 

Sunil Gavaskar went on to say, "I hope Star Sports realises that when that clip is shown, questioning the critics, the critics are your own commentators."

Wasim Akram shares his stance

Responding to the recent outbursts, former Pakistan pacer Wasim Akram highlighted the importance of mutual respect despite differences in opinion.

The former Pakistan captain's comments shed light on the delicate balance between player critique and respect for commentators' roles in shaping public discourse around the game.

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Speaking to Sportskeeda, Wasim said,

"Both are greats. Sunny bhai, as a cricketer, as a human being, I know him off the field. As a commentator, he has been doing it for God knows how many years. And coming to the great man, Virat Kohli, he is a top player, a modern great. In fact, he is an all-time great in history, given the kind of performances he has had. But I think Virat shouldn't have said it." 

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