Pakistan skipper Babar Azam feels that as a player, one should try to back every sportsman in a difficult time and that was his intention when he wrote that public social media message -- 'This too shall pass' -- for Virat Kohli, saying that there is a mutual empathy between professional athletes and he ultimately wanted his on-field rival to succeed.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Babar's tweet, which he posted in July last year, came in the middle of an extended lean patch for Kohli.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Just a day before, Kohli had fallen for 16 runs in an ODI against England during a 100-run loss for his side. At that stage, Kohli also hadn't scored an international hundred since his 136 against Bangladesh in November 2019.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
From his last century until that England ODI, Kohli had scored 806 ODI runs at an average of 36.68 and averaged just 27.25 in Test cricket during the same period.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Asked how he actually came about supporting Kohli, who plays for Pakistan's cricketing adversary India, Babar said that as a sportsperson one must back other players in tough times.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"As a sportsperson, anyone can go through such a time. 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," Babar told ICC Digital.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"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.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The former India skipper had also acknowledged Babar's support on Twitter.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"Thank you. Keep shining and rising. Wish you all the best," wrote Kohli.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Later, Virat returned to the form in white ball cricket. He scored 122 not out against Afghanistan in September 2022 and, since then, he has hit three ODI hundreds and smashed a memorable 82 not out at Melbourne to set up a classic win over Babar-led Pakistan in the ICC T20 World Cup 2022.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"Thank you. Keep shining and rising. Wish you all the best," wrote Kohli.<\/p>\r\n\r\n