"In Difficult Times...": Babar Azam Finally Speaks On 'This Too Shall Pass' Viral Message For Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli and Babar Azam are two of the biggest batsmen in world cricket at the moment. During India's tour of England in 2022, Kohli was struggling with his form and at that point, Babar took to social media to share a picture of them during a match along with the message - “This too shall pass”. Virat was quick to respond to Babar's support on Twitter. "Thank you. Keep shining and rising. Wish you all the best," he wrote. In a recent interaction, the Pakistan cricket team skipper opened up about the viral interaction with Kohli and also the reason behind showing his support on a public platform. 

"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. 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," Babar told ICC Digital. 

Recently, Mudassar Nazar, a former Pakistan head coach, said Babar needs to score more Test centuries, in order to be considered among greats of the game. Babar, who scored nine centuries and 26 half-centuries, won the ICC men's cricketer of the year 2022 award, while also taking the ODI cricketer of the year prize for a second successive year. Nazar said that Babar needs to work on his conversion rate, while citing the example of England batter Joe Root, who also struggled to score centuries at one point in his career. 

"If Babar continues to score runs in Test cricket likes he does in ODIs, then he will be considered among greats of the game. It is often seen that after scoring fifty in Test cricket, he fails to convert it into a century.  Joe Root was facing the same issue but he worked on it. Babar needs to do focus on the doing the same thing," Nazar told Cricket Pakistan.