Live Score
Cricket Teams
Cricket Players
Babar Azam breaks silence on 'this too shall pass' viral message for Virat Kohli: 'I thought 'maybe if I tweet...'
Virat Kohli and Babar Azam are considered as the greatest batters among modern era cricketers, with the two also sharing a healthy on-field rivalry.
Virat Kohli and Babar Azam are considered as the greatest batters among modern era cricketers, with the two also sharing a healthy on-field rivalry. Babar is currently the number one ranked batter in the 50-over format beside holding the third position in both Test and T20Is. Virat Kohli, on the other hand, is slightly below the pecking order, which is mainly due to a rare lean patch in his rich cricket journey.
For a major part of 2022, Kohli endured a string of low scores and it was during that time when a friendly camaraderie was seen between the two.
“This too shall pass. Stay strong,” Babar had then tweeted along with a photo of him and Kohli, and it didn't take long to become a meme fest.
Now in a latest interview with ICC Digital Insider Zainab Abbas, the Pakistan skipper opened about the viral tweet. Babar said the tweet was in high spirits and sharing a mutual empathy with Kohli, with whom he wants his on-field rival to continue.
“As a sportsperson, anyone can go through such a time," said Babar.
“At that time I thought maybe if I tweet it might give someone help and confidence. See, as a player, you try to back every sportsman in a difficult time.
“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.”
Cheteshwar Pujara interview: 'Your reaction to setbacks defines you as a person'
Kohli was then engaged with the England tour, and had not notched a century in any format for over 1000 days. At that stage, Kohli's last century came against Bangladesh in 2019. However, he took a break right after the England tour before finding his lost mojo at the Asia Cup 2023, where he smashed a hundred against Afghanistan -- also his only in T20Is so far.
Since then Kohli has gone to hit hit three ODI hundreds and smashed a match-winning 82* in the high octane clash against Babar-led Pakistan at Melbourne in the ICC T20 World Cup 2022.
