Champions Trophy 2025: 'Virat Kohli Would Be Dying To Play In Pakistan', Shoaib Akhtar Makes Bizarre Claim

Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar has claimed that star India batter Virat Kohli would be dying to play in Pakistan.

Hyderabad: The element of uncertainty is still looming over the scheduling of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 with India not ready to travel to Pakistan due to security concerns. While the team wants a hybrid model, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has put some conditions to accept the proposal according to some media reports. Amidst the discussion around the tournament, former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar has come up with a bizarre claim saying India would be dying to play cricket in Pakistan.

Akhtar claimed that star India batter Virat Kohli would be dying to play on Pakistan soil and also added that it would give a major boost to India in their TV rights and sponsorship deals.

"India is dying more than Pakistan to play in Pakistan; Virat Kohli would probably be dying to play in Pakistan. I had worked in India with the BCCI, if India land in Pakistan to play, their TV rights and sponsorship are gonna go off the roof," Akhtar said on a Pakistan TV channel.

Kohli’s first and only visit to Pakistan

Kohli was a part of the India U-19 squad during the Under 19 series played between the two arch-rivals in 2006. Piyush Chawla captained the Indian team back then and Men in Blue won the ODI series by 4-0 and Test series by 2-0. The right-handed batter finished as the third-highest run-scorer in the series with 174 runs from two Test matches with an average of 58.

In the ODIs, the star batter accrued 125 runs from the three innings with an average of 41.66 which includes one half-century. It was the last tour to Pakistan for Kohli as the two nations didn’t hold bilateral cricket since 2012-13.