“This too shall pass”: Babar Azam opens up on his viral massage for Virat Kohli: Virat Kohli and Babar Azam are widely regarded as the greatest batters of the current era, and the two have a healthy on-field rivalry. Babar currently holds the top spot among batters in the ODI and is ranked third in the Test and T20I formats. On the other hand, Virat Kohli is a bit further down the list, partly because of a rare drought in his illustrious cricket career.
Babar Azam thinks it’s crucial for athletes to help one another out when things become rough. In order to express empathy for his on-field rival and wish him luck, he publicly tweeted the phrase “This too shall pass” for Virat Kohli on social media.
Azam asserts that professional athletes have a common understanding and that it is essential for them to support one another when things get tough.
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ICC Digital Insider Zainab Abbas had an extensive interview with Babar. He explained that professional athletes share a sense of empathy and that he eventually wanted his on-field rival to flourish.
Babar tweeted in July of last year, during a phase of mediocre performance for Kohli. Babar sent out that tweet the day after Kohli made just 16 runs and India lost an ODI to England by a margin of 100 runs. Kohli hadn’t struck a century for his country since his 136 against Bangladesh in November 2019.
“This too shall pass. Stay strong,” wrote Babar and shared a picture of himself and Kohli, and it soon turned into a meme fest. In the most recent interview, the Pakistan captain discussed the trending tweet that he believes that all players, regardless of ethnicity, share a sense of respect and empathy for one another.
Babar said “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. It is in difficult times when you get to know what you are thinking about others.”
He added “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.”
On Twitter, the former captain of India acknowledged Babar’s support and said “Thank you. Keep shining and rising. Wish you all the best.”
In September 2022, Kohli scored 122 against Afghanistan. Since then, he has made three ODI hundreds and slammed a spectacular 82 at MCG to establish a magnificent victory over Babar-led Pakistan in the ICC T20 World Cup 2022.
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