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Wednesday April 17, 2024

Babar Azam comes out in defence of underpressure Virat Kohli

"This too shall pass. Stay strong," Babar Azam tells Virat Kohli after Indian batter gets dropped from squad

By Web Desk
July 15, 2022
Former Indian skipper Virat Kohli and Pakistan captain Babar Azam after the toss in the T20 World Cup.
Former Indian skipper Virat Kohli and Pakistan captain Babar Azam after the toss in the T20 World Cup.

Pakistan skipper Babar Azam on Thursday advised Indian great Virat Kohli to stay focused on his game after the batter was dropped from the squad for the T20 series against West Indies.

The Indian player is under intense pressure to perform and has not been in the best of forms lately. He lost captaincy from all three formats within a span of months following the T20 World Cup debacle.

"This too shall pass. Stay strong," Babar said in a statement on Twitter, along with a picture of Virat Kohli from the Pakistan-India world cup game.

India’s out-of-form star batsman Kohli was missing from the 18-member squad announced by selectors for the upcoming five-match Twenty20 series in West Indies.

Former captain Kohli, 33, has been going through a prolonged lean patch and has not hit a century since 2019, with his future now a matter of intense public debate in his cricket-obsessed country.

The national selectors did not clarify whether the top-order batter had finally been dropped or was merely being rested over injury concerns ahead of the T20 World Cup in Australia.