Weeks after being sacked as ODI captain, Kohli took everyone by surprise after relinquishing the captaincy from the longest format following a 1-2 series loss against South Africa.
“I don’t know what (BCCI president) Sourav Ganguly and others think. But Indian cricket is definitely on top,” Akhtar told PTI on the sidelines of the Legends League Cricket T20 tournament here.
Led by stand-in captain KL Rahul, India also lost the ODI series in South Africa as the new coaching management under Rahul Dravid suffered their first defeat on their maiden overseas tour.
“No, Indian cricket is not going down. You have to take control of the situation. Rahul Dravid has a big job on his hands.
“I hope people don’t say that he is an overrated coach. He has to prove it, and obviously he has big shoes to fill Ravi Shastri’s place. He has a big job ahead, let’s see. How does he perform?”
India won the first Test but lost the next two as victory in the Rainbow Nation remained elusive for India.
Kohli was appointed Test captain in 2014, taking over the reins of MS Dhoni, and ended up as India’s most successful captain.
The 33-year-old decided to step down from T20 captaincy before being dropped as the ODI captain, leading to a rift between him and the BCCI top-brass.
Akhtar witnessed the division in the Indian dressing room during the T20 World Cup.
“I knew he was coming. I was in Dubai at the time and I knew everything about it. I knew the whole scenario and what was happening in the Indian dressing room from my friends in India.
The Rawalpindi Express said, “People were against him. So I was not surprised at his decision to step down. It is not an easy task.”
“It is a test time for him, he (Kohli) has to be stronger. He has to keep things simple, work hard and play his normal cricket,” he added.
You have to change fast bowlers like you change tires
India have seen a golden era in their pace attack with the likes of Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah taking the team to some memorable victories in Australia, England and South Africa.
“They have made very good progress. Yes I am very impressed, hope more such fast bowlers from the subcontinent keep coming and they will keep performing,” he said.
Akhtar said, “I love everyone, I love Bumrah, Shami is great… It would be good if they also start developing attitude like Pakistanis.”
But as players like Ishant, Shami, Umesh Yadav and Bhuvneshwar Kumar are in the final stages of their careers, it is time to think beyond them, he felt.
“They are like the ‘wheels’ of the team. Of course, you have to change them as you change the ‘tyres’. They also need a little rest in between and you have to perform them as well.
“Cricket is very much these days, there is a lot of pressure on cricketers these days, especially on fast bowlers, there is a lot of pressure and the amount of travel they do is just not right,” he concluded.
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