Pakistan skipper Babar Azam has opened up on the famous ‘this too shall pass’ tweet he posted to show his support for India batting superstar Virat Kohli. The Pakistan batting mainstay had left the cricket world surprised with his tweet for a rival player.
While it is not uncommon nowadays for former players from Pakistan to show support for any Indian player, not many had expected a player of Babar Azam’s stature to do the same. He posted the tweet in July last year when Kohli was going through a lean patch in the game.
It came when Virat Kohli was going through a tough time in England that further extended his century drought. On the England tour, Kohli was out for 11 and 20 in the rescheduled fifth Test before scoring 11 and 1 in the subsequent T20I matches. His performance in the following ODI series was not great either.
And with Kohli struggling to get going, Babar Azam had taken to Twitter to post: “This too shall pass. Stay strong.”
Kohli had also acknowledged the support from the Pakistan skipper as he replied: “Thank you. Keep shining and rising. Wish you all the best.”
Thank you. Keep shining and rising. Wish you all the best ?
— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) July 16, 2022
Babar Azam on his tweet:
Babar Azam recently opened up on his tweet for Kohli. Currently plying his trade in the ongoing Pakistan Super League (PSL), the right-handed batsman stated the reason behind his tweet, saying that it is important to back players in their tough times.
“As a sportsperson, anyone can go through such a time. At that time, I thought maybe if I tweeted it might give someone help and confidence. See, as a player, you try to back every sportsman in a difficult time,” Babar was quoted as saying to ICC.
“It is in difficult times when you get to know what you are thinking about others. At that time, I thought I should have done that and maybe something positive will come out of it. Something which can be a plus point,” he added.
The tweet did help Kohli as he regained his form soon as smashed a fine hundred against Afghanistan in the Asia Cup. It was his first international century since 2019 and also his first one in T20Is. Kohli also had a fine outing in the T20 World Cup before he scored ODI centuries against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.