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Former Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi has talked about current captain Babar Azam’s supporting tweet to Virat Kohli, who has been under a prolonged slump over the last few years. Kohli hasn’t scored a century in over 78 innings and has failed to even get to a decent start in this period. Hence Afridi expressed that comments like these help improve relations between countries and feels Kohli should have responded by now.
While speaking to a Pakistani channel, Shahid Afridi said, “Be it cricket or any other sport, it improves relations (between countries). Athletes can do a much better job at it than politicians and a number of them are doing the same."
“Babar has given across an incredible message. I don’t know if there has been a response from the other side. I think Virat should have responded by now. It would be a very big thing if there is a response to Babar’s tweet, but I don’t think that is going to happen," Shahid Afridi continued.
Similarly, Babar Azam also responded to the question about why he tweeted to Kohli. Azam said, "I just feel that in the present situation Kohli needs support and to be backed. I tweeted wishing him the best because I know how a player feels when he is going through this period and he needs the support of everyone."
Kohli had another underwhelming performance in the second ODI against England at Lord’s. He got to an above-average start but was dismissed for 16 runs in 25 balls. He also hit three boundaries in the innings and was showing glimpses of his former self.
England captain Jos Buttler also expressed his support for the 33-year-old and talked about how Kohli is a "human" and can go through a bad run of form. "I suppose in a little way it is quite refreshing for the rest of us that he (Kohli) is human and he can have a couple of low scores as well. But look he has been one of the best players, if not the best in ODI cricket in the world," Buttler said.