Virat Kohli's rough patch with the bat has created divisions within the cricket world – while numerous Indian cricketers, namely Zaheer Khan, Kapil Dev, Aakash Chopra, Ajay Jadeja, and Wasim Jaffer have called for his ouster from Team India's T20 and ODI sides, support and sympathy for the talismanic batter has also been growing for him all over the planet. After Pakistan captain Babar Azam, India skipper Rohit Sharma, England's Jos Buttler, legendary Sunil Gavaskar, and iconic pace bowler Shoaib Akhtar came out in support of Virat Kohli, another cricketer voiced his support for the Delhi-born player. Pakistan veteran Kamran Akmal has not only thrown his weight behind Virat Kohli but has slammed all those men who have been criticizing the former India captain for his continuing struggles on the pitch.

“He's a different player altogether. Everyone goes through these phases. Some players endure it for a brief period, some go through it for long,” Kamran Akmal told YouTube channel Paktv.tv.

Hitting out at Virat Kohli's bashers, Kamran Akmal declared that the people who have been blasting the 33-year-old star have themselves played only one or two international games, and were yet sharing their views on a player who has more than 23,000 runs in international cricket.

“He only needs one big innings. His belief, his passion for the game, makes him stand apart. Do you think that a player who has 70 centuries will listen to those asking for his ouster from the side? People who have played 1-2 matches are now giving opinions on him. I can only laugh,” the 40-year-old Pakistan keeper Kamran Akmal further said.

“Footwork, bat swing, head position, shoulder.. everything comes into place. A player figures all these things out on his own. You have to keep your mind positive. Think about what you did right in your past. There will be a lot of opinions but you got to keep focus intact. A player is his own coach,” Kamran Akmal stated.

For the record, Virat Kohli's century-less streak has now extended to 968 days and 78 innings across all formats in international cricket.

His last hundred in national colors came way back in the historic Pink-ball Test against Bangladesh at the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata in 2019.

During the recent England tour of India, Virat Kohli failed to cross the threshold of 100 runs despite appearing in six innings across the three formats.

He opened his sojourn in the United Kingdom with a score of 11 in the first innings of India's defeat to England in the rescheduled fifth and final Test at Edgbaston followed by 20 runs in his second outing there.

Virat Kohli then featured in two T20I games, but once again disappointed his supporters as he lost his wicket for 1 and 11 respectively in Birmingham and at Trent Bridge.

Two more failures awaited him in the ODIs as he was dismissed for 16 and 17 at the Lord's and Old Trafford, ending the tour of England with poor returns with the bat.

Before Kamran Akmal's former Pakistan teammate Shoaib Akhtar had backed Virat Kohli to resurrect his slide soon.

“As a Pakistani, I’m supporting Virat Kohli because 70 centuries… it’s not Candy Crush. Only a great player can score these many centuries, a normal player can’t do that. When Virat Kohli comes out of this phase, it will be a different Virat Kohli. There are some things that he needs to work on,” Shoaib Akhtar said on his official YouTube channel.

“You need to forget your stint as captain now. Move on from that. Just focus on yourself as a batter. You can’t get runs? No problem. People are criticizing you? No problem. All of this will only make you stronger. You have to score 30 more hundreds. I have predicted 110 for you. You’re still young, you’re quite fit,” Shoaib Akhtar added.

According to Shoaib Akhtar, Virat Kohli looks anxious at the crease and appears to be in a hurry to score his runs. This is why he’s making one mistake after another in a bid to revive his batting across formats.

“Don’t be scared. Bowlers should know that they are going up against a strong guy. And you have been that person. Focus on yourself. Stay composed,” Shoaib Akhtar elaborated.

“You won’t get runs by hitting. You need to stay in the middle. There are some things which you might not be able to implement right now. But then, you’re not giving yourself time. You’re showing frustration. You can’t move past your rough patch this way. Stay calm, go off social media for a few days, forget the criticism,” Shoaib Akhtar signed off.