Former India skipper Virat Kohli finally responded to Babar Azam's motivational tweet saying, "Thank you. Keep shining and rising. Wish you all the best." This was in response to the Pakistan captain's tweet on Friday, July 15, where Babar had written, “This too shall pass. Stay strong.” The post had gone viral on social media, making both the players the talk of the town.
Babar's tweet came after Kohli hit 16 runs upon his return to the team for the second ODI, having missed the first ODI due to strain in the groin sustained in the third T20I against England.
See the post here:
In the second game, the run chase was tailormade for Kohli. Chasing 246, he started off well with a few boundaries with trademark shots. Just when he was looking a bit settled at the crease, David Willey got his wicket. Kohli poked at a delivery outside off stump as he edged it to wicketkeeper Jos Buttler.
As a result, India got bundled out for 146 and lost the game by a big margin of 100 runs. The lack of anchor hurt India as there were no big partnerships in the run chase.
Kohli has been struggling on the England tour across formats. So far, he has scored 59 runs from five innings on English soil in formats in the ongoing tour.
Kohli’s last century came in November 2019 against Bangladesh. The former Indian skipper has been facing a lot of flak for the slump in form. The drought of big knocks has also put a question mark on his place in the T20I squad.
Recently, he has been rested for the West Indies tour which will begin later this month. India are scheduled to play five T20Is and three ODIs against Nicholas Pooran-led Caribbean side.
Kohli will hope that he can find some form in the third ODI against England in Manchester on Sunday, July 17.
Meanwhile, Babar is currently in Sri Lanka for a two-Test series. He scored 88 runs in the warm-up game as well. Their first Test kicks off on Saturday, July 16.
