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Tempers flare when India and Pakistan face each other in World Cup events. Over the years, cricketers have revealed sledges and conversations they exchanged with each other in the heat of the moment. Former Pakistan pacer Sohail Khan recalled one such incident from ODI World Cup 2015 in Australia when Virat Kohli scored a century.
“Virat came. He said to me ‘Aap cricket mein abhi aaye hain. And itni baatein karte ho (You’ve just arrived and you speak so much). I was a Test cricketer back then. I had played Test matches in 2006-07. Then in between I endured a troubled knee which forced me out of action. I said ‘Beta jab tu Under-19 khel raha tha na, tera baap Test cricketer tha‘(Son, when you were playing Under-19 for India, your father [referring to himself] was a Test player). That’s how I said it. Then if you see carefully, Misbah intervened and he got angry at me. He asked me to keep quiet,” Sohail said on the Nadir Ali Podcast.
Sohail did manage to dismiss Kohli but not before he scored 107 runs and helped India post 300/7 at Adelaide Oval. Sohail ended up taking five wickets for 55 runs in his full quota of 10 overs. However, it was Kohli who had the last laugh as Pakistan got all out for 224 and lost the game by 76 runs.
Nearly eight years later, Sohail said that Kohli has earned his respect as he further added, “I respect him today because he is a great batter, amazing”. On the other hand, Sohail's Test cricket claim is false as he made his Test debut in 2009, not in 2006-07 season.
Sohail’s best international performance came in that World Cup clash only. He played his last ODI against West Indies in 2016 where he picked up one wicket. His last international appearance was in 2017 when Pakistan took on World XI at home. He took one wicket and conceded 44 runs from his quota of four overs.
The 38-year-old did not have a long international career. He represented Pakistan in nine Tests, 13 ODIs and five T20Is. He has a total of 51 wickets across formats in international arena.
