Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi has shared his thoughts on current captain Babar Azam, who is providing support to Virat Kohli, who is enduring a prolonged slump despite being among the best in world cricket. Kohli has been under fire for his extended lean patch, not scoring an international ton since 2019. India’s star batter will be rested for the upcoming One-day International and Twenty20 series in the West Indies. The 33-year-old Kohli has managed to score just 158 runs from seven ODI matches this year and has only two fifties to his credit. Amid growing calls for his exclusion from the Twenty20 squad, Babar backed Kohli, tweeting: “This too shall pass. Stay strong.” Babar’s support for Kohli came after he fell for 16 off 25 deliveries on Thursday. India faced a 100-run drubbing against hosts England in the 2nd ODI.
Afridi praised Babar’s gesture and said a response from Kohli would be great as the sport improves ties between the arch rivals. “Whether it is cricket or any other sport, it improves relations (between countries). Sportspersons can do a much better job at this than politicians, and a number of them are doing the same,” Afridi saidBabar gave an incredible message. I don’t know if there was a response from the other side. I think Virat should have reacted by now. It would be very important if there was a response to Babar’s tweet, but I don’t think it will happen,” he added.
Despite the average outings, Kohli remains third in the ICC ODI rankings behind Pakistan’s Babar and Imam ul Haq. While Kohli got off to a good start in the 2nd ODI, he fell to a David Wiley delivery that was pitched outside the off stump.When Babar was asked about Kohli in a media interaction after his late-night tweet, he said, “I just feel that in the current situation, Kohli needs support and encouragement. I wished him the best on Twitter because I know how the player feels.” when he is going through this period and needs everyone’s support.’
Apart from Babar, Indian captain Rohit Sharma also backed his predecessor, saying that a player of Kohli’s caliber only needs a few innings to rediscover his lost mojo.”For someone who has won so many matches for India, you need an innings or two to bounce back. I feel that and I’m sure everyone who watches cricket will feel the same way,” Rohit said at the post-match press conference on Thursday.” He has played so many matches in such a long time. He is a great batsman,” he added.
Kohli also received support from England captain Jose Buttler, who said the Indian is “human” and can dip into form before getting back into the groove. “I suppose it’s quite refreshing for the rest of us that he (Kohli) is human and he might have a few low scores too, but look he was one of the best players, if not the best. in ODI cricket in the world,” Buttler said.
