The Indian cricketer Virat Kohli is definitely one of the best players of all times and his contribution towards the Indian cricket is immense. The 33 years old former Indian skipper is an inspiration for youngsters but presently he is under the radar of many because of his lean phase.
Virat Kohli hasn’t scored a century since 2019 across all the formats and this prolonged tough phase is increasing problems for him as far as his career is concerned. Though he is strongly backed by skipper Rohit Sharma, coach Rahul Dravid and BCCI President Sourav Ganguly, there are many former Indian cricketers such as Kapil Dev, Virender Sehwag, Venkatesh Prasad, etc. who have demanded that Kohli should be dropped from the team as there are a number of in-form youngsters who are waiting for their chance to play for the country.
Virat Kohli performed poorly in the IPL 2022, he got out on golden duck three times which is quite disappointing for a player of his stature, then he again failed in the fifth rescheduled test match, T20Is and ODIs against England. The third ODI against England is going to be played tomorrow and fans are quite hopeful that he will definitely score a century tomorrow.
The former RCB skipper has also been rested for the West Indies tour by the selectors and this has left people speculating whether Virat Kohli has been rested or he has been dropped from the team. Amidst the rising voices of criticism, he is getting support from cricketers and former cricketers from other countries too.
The Pakistan cricket team skipper Babar Azam who is also touted as one of the best batsmen of the present times shared a tweet supporting Virat. He posted a photo featuring him and Virat Kohli and wrote, “This too shall pass. Stay strong.”
This too shall pass. Stay strong. #ViratKohli pic.twitter.com/ozr7BFFgXt
— Babar Azam (@babarazam258) July 14, 2022
This tweet by Babar Azam was loved by not just Indian cricket fans but by fans across the border and former Indian cricketer Irfan Pathan also praised him as he responded with, “But you will be remembered for this”.
But you will be remembered for this.
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) July 15, 2022
Some other former cricketers such as England’s Michael Vaughan lauded Babar Azam as he called it a class act:
Class act Babar 👏 https://t.co/GfaAGXwTIu
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) July 15, 2022
While speaking in a press conference, Babar Azam is asked about his tweet and he says that as a player, he knows one can go through such phase and also how a player feels when he is facing tough time. He adds that at this stage, a player needs support and he has tweeted just thinking that it will give Virat some support. Babar calls Virat one of the best players and says that he is playing a lot of cricket and he definitely knows how to come out of this phase. He goes on to say that it may take some time but it is good if the players get backed.
The former Pakistani cricketer Shahid Afridi also talks on this matter as he appreciates Babar Azam for sending a wonderful message, saying that such incidents improve relations. He further states that he is not aware whether Virat has responded by then or not but if Virat responds, it will be a big thing. Shahid Afridi also adds that by now Virat should have responded but he thinks no response will come from Virat’s side.
Now, the Indian cricketer Virat Kohli has finally responded to the tweet of Babar Azam and his tweet reads, “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
By the time this article was written, the tweet was liked more than 73K times and retweeted by over 12K users.
Well, hopefully we will see the vintage Kohli on Sunday at Old Trafford Cricket Ground, Greater Manchester.
