Shoaib Akhtar feels Virat Kohli marrying Anushka Sharma affected his career

Former Pakistan cricketer Shoaib Akhtar, who is known for speaking his mind and not being politically correct, has made another big statement on Indian cricketer Virat Kohli. 

The former Indian captain is going through a tricky phase in his career where he is finding it hard to score the big hundreds. The fact that he has quit captaincy across formats and got sacked in one has not helped. 

Akhtar feels that Virat is past his prime and now he will have to struggle to score runs. He went on to say that if he were in Virat's place and was at his prime, he would not have married, saying that marriage does play a role in a cricketer's life.  

Speaking to Dainik Jagran Akhtar he said, "Virat captained for 6-7 years and I was never in favour of his captaincy, I just wanted him to keep scoring 100-120 runs and keep the focus on his batting."

He further said, "I would have not even married if I were in his place. I had just scored runs and enjoyed cricket, these 10-12 years of cricket are different time and doesn't come again, I am not saying getting married is wrong but If you are playing for India, you would have enjoyed a time a little. Fans are crazy about Kohli and he had to maintain that love he is getting for the last 20 years."

On being asked whether marriage has an effect on a cricketer's life, the retired cricketer said, "Absolutely it does [the pressure of marriage, captaincy affect cricket]. There is pressure from the children, of the family. As the responsibility increases, so does the pressure. Cricketers have a short career span of 14-15 years in which you stay at the peak for five-six years. Those years of Virat have passed, now he has to struggle."