'Thank You': Virat Kohli Replies to Pak Skipper Babar Azam's 'Stay Strong' Tweet

Virat Kohli made just 16 runs in the second ODI against England which India lost by 100 runs.

Virat Kohli with Babar Azam. 

(Photo: Azam Khan/Twitter/Altered by The Quint)

After Pakistan skipper Babar Azam came out in support of Indian cricketer Virat Kohli saying 'this too shall pass', Kohli on Saturday, 16 July, thanked him for his support.

"Thank you. Keep shining and rising. Wish you all the best," Kohli replied to Azam's tweet.

Recently, legendary cricketers such as Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar have been critical of Kohli's performance, with the former saying he should be dropped from the side and the latter indicating that some senior players are getting preferential treatment by being allowed to pick and choose which series they want to play.

Kohli made just 16 runs in the second ODI against England on Thursday, 14 July, which India lost by 100 runs at Lord's, after he missed the first game with a groin injury.

The right-handed Kohli has now gone 77 consecutive international innings without reaching three figures, after scores of 1 and 11 in the T20I series against England and failures in the rescheduled fifth Test at Edgbaston.

India's T20I squad to take on the West Indies is also missing Kohli's name, with Jasprit Bumrah and Yuzvendra Chahal rested for the same tour.

Earlier this week, Kohli also found support from captain Rohit Sharma, who stood up for his teammate ahead of the England ODIs.

"When someone is scoring consistently for so long, we can't overlook his contribution if he is not scoring in one or two series or in one or two years. We know the importance of Virat Kohli. The experts have got all the right to talk about it but for us, these things don't matter," Sharma said.