Shoaib Akhtar thinks Virat shouldn't have married so early and Anushka's fans are upset

Anushka Sharma’s fans are not happy with Shoaib Akhtar's latest comments on Indian skipper Virat Kohli.

In a recent interview, the former Pakistani cricketer blamed Virat’s marriage for his underwhelming performance on the field. The former fast bowler said Virat should have married later in his career for him to perform to the ‘maximum level’ during his peak cricket years.

The advice naturally did not sit well with Anushka’s fans, who called out Shoaib for doing precisely what many trolls had done before him; blaming her for Virat’s shortcomings or unprecedented decline.

"Please do not drag anybody's family in the profession," wrote a fan on Twitter. “Sachin had no problem being married and having children and making runs and records,” pointed out another. “I don't understand why everyone blames someone’s personal life for their continued bad performance in cricket," asked one more.

In an interview with Dainik Jagran, Shoaib had said: "I would not have even married if I were in his place. I had just scored runs and enjoyed cricket, these 10-12 years of cricket are a different time and don’t come again, I am not saying getting married is wrong but if you are playing for India, you would have enjoyed this time a little."

He then justified his comments by adding that when a man gets married, "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 they stay at the peak for five-six years. Those years of Virat have passed, now he has to struggle.”

It is pertinent to mention here that one’s personal and professional choices can be mutually exclusive of one another and no one should have to face the brunt of someone else’s slip-ups. Similarly, no one should be blamed for making certain decisions for their personal well-being, simply because those decisions may or may not affect their professional growth. But Anushka hasn't been spared by trolls in India for quite sometime now and it seems that the narrative of her being ‘unlucky’ for Virat is brewing popularity in Pakistan too.

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