Pakistan captain Babar Azam has come out in support of star Indian batter Virat Kohli after the latter’s dip in form.
Babar took to his Twitter and wrote, “This too shall pass. Stay strong. #ViratKohli,” along with a photo of him and Kohli.
After missing the first One-Day International (ODI) against England with a groin injury, Kohli made just 16 in the second match, which India lost by 100 runs at Lord’s. His name is also mission from India’s Twenty20 International squad for the series against West Indies, as Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Yuzvendra Chahal have been rested from the tour.
With the 2022 T20 World Cup right around the corner and India needing points to stay in the race to the final of the ICC World Test Championship, Kohli’s place in the team is being debated by fans and former legends.
However, he has the support from the captain of the India’s arch rival Pakistan, Babar Azam. Earlier in the week, Kohli also found support from captain Rohit Sharma, who stood up for his teammate ahead of the England ODIs.
“When someone is scoring consistently for so long, we can’t overlook his contribution if he is not scoring in one or two series or in one or two years,” ICC quoted Rohit as saying.
“We know the importance of Virat Kohli. The experts have got all the right to talk about it but for us these things don’t matter,” he added.
Meanwhile, Babar is enjoying his most successful phase as a batsman in international cricket as he sits top of the list in the ICC rankings for batsmen in both ODI and T20I, and fourth in Tests after hitting centuries in recent series against Australia and the West Indies.