'From one champion to another...': India great sends special message to Virat Kohli, Babar Azam over Twitter exchange

Babar extended support to Kohli, saying the Indian remains one of the best players in world cricket despite his batting slump.

Virat Kohli on Saturday responded to Pakistan captain Babar Azam's tweet about his extended lean patch. Babar had shared a picture of the two batting icons captioned "This too shall pass. Stay Strong", which went viral as fans praised him for backing out-of-form Kohli. The mercurial cricketer has endured a torrid phase in the past few months that also saw him relinquishing India's captaincy.

Babar Azam and Virat Kohli (Twitter)

Kohli, who remains one of the finest players in world cricket despite the slump, has been under the scanner with former players including Kapil Dev questioning his future with the national side. Amid the chaos, Babar's support for Kohli drew immense praise on the internet. Kohli also responded to the tweet writing, "Thank you. Keep shining and rising. Wish you all the best."

The exchange between the two players took social media by storm and former India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh also lavished praise on the batters. So good to see this .. from one Champion to Another 🏏 well done," wrote Harbhajan along with a picture of the conversation.

When Babar was asked about his tweet, he said Kohli should get all the support he needs to regain his batting form. "As a player (tough) times can fall on you as well," Babar said ahead of Pakistan's opening Test in Sri Lanka.

“I know how a player goes through such times and how he comes out of it. So he needs support in those times and as a player, I tweeted to support him. He is one of the best players and he knows how to come out of this. It takes time but we should back him," he added.

Kohli has also received support from bowling great Shoaib Akhtar, who underlined the Indian's feat of scoring 70 international hundreds. "How did you even imagine in your wildest dreams that Kohli can be dropped from the Indian team?"

"Virat Kohli is finished? Ok, fair enough. Virat Kohli should be dropped? Agreed. Now when I hear these things, I laugh and tell people, 'Virat has been the greatest batter in the world in the last 10 years," said Akhtar on his YouTube channel.

"Yes, he has had a couple of lean years and even in those years, he has scored runs if not hundreds. Suddenly everyone getting up in arms against him, such a great player and a human being isn't right," he added.