‘He needs to give that respect to Rohit and Kohli…..’ – Shoaib Akhtar opens up on Hardik Pandya’s responsibility during transition phase of Team India

Former Pakistan cricketer Shoaib Akhtar has spoken about the transition phase of Team India after the 2023 ODI World Cup. Notably, there are reports that Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma will likely not play the T20I format anymore. Both the star batters didn’t play the game in the shortest form of the game after the Men in Blue lost the T20 World Cup 2022 semi-final against England in Adelaide.

However, Shoaib Akhtar also feels that Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma won’t be playing any T20I games after the 2023 ODI World Cup. However, both great batting legends have asked for a break from the upcoming South African tour as well. The legendary pacer also talked about the phase when legendary cricketers retire. Akhtar talked about how Dhoni paid respect when Sachin retired. Moreover, he spoke about Rohit giving respect to Virat when he stepped down from captaincy.

“If you ask do Rohit and Kohli have cricket left in them? Yes, definitely. Do you get a better opener than Rohit in the world right now? No, you don’t. When Dhoni came, he gave respect to Sachin Tendulkar. When Virat came, he respected Dhoni. When Rohit replaced Virat, he also gave him respect,” Shoaib Akhtar said on Zee News.

Now it’s up to Hardik Pandya how he wants to send these two great players off: Shoaib Akhtar

The well-renowed cricket commentator feels it’s Hardik Pandya’s time to give respect to Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. Moreover, the former right-arm pacer feels both Virat and Rohit deserved to get respect in their last phase of the career.

“So, now it’s up to Hardik Pandya how he wants to send these two great players off. It’s up to him now to put his foot down. And he has to bid them goodbye respectfully. They deserve this respect. I’m maybe putting pressure on Hardik Pandya through this but he needs to give that respect to Rohit and Kohli. And they are legends of Indian cricket, so they should be given due respect before they are let go,” he added further.