Team India witnessed a dominating loss against England in the second ODI, as the hosts cruised to a 100-run win at Lord’s. Reece Topley was the pick of the bowlers for England with a six-wicket haul, as the visiting team got bundled out for 146 in a 247-run chase. The game saw the return of star India batter Virat Kohli, who missed the opening ODI due to a groin injury. However, the 33-year-old star failed to make a mark with the bat again, as he only managed to score 16 off 25 balls.
Chasing a delivery outside-off, Kohli nicked the ball for an easy catch for the English skipper, Jos Buttler, adding to the concerns of the team management over his form. The former India skipper is witnessing an extension of a rough patch over the past few months; he had scored only 341 runs in 16 games in the IPL 2022, and also failed to step up in the rescheduled fifth Test against England on his return to international cricket.
WATCH – Virat Kohli Had A Confident Walk While Coming Out To Bat Lord’s
Virat Kohli scored 11 and 20 in two innings of the Test, and further registered scores of 1 and 11 in two T20Is. While the right-handed batter is receiving fierce criticism from some of the former cricketers including World Cup-winning skipper, Kapil Dev, he found support from across the border on Thursday.
Pakistan captain Babar Azam, who is widely regarded as one of the top batters in modern-day cricket (ranked 1st in T20Is and ODIs, and 4th in Tests) posted a tweet in support of Virat Kohli as the former India captain continues to struggle across formats.
This too shall pass. Stay strong. #ViratKohli pic.twitter.com/ozr7BFFgXt
— Babar Azam (@babarazam258) July 14, 2022
Former England captain Michael Vaughan was among many who found Babar Azam’s encouraging ‘this too shall pass’ tweet on Kohli interesting. “Class act Babar,” wrote Vaughan.
Class act Babar 👏 https://t.co/GfaAGXwTIu
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) July 15, 2022
The last time Kohli and Babar faced each other on a cricket field was when the former was still the Indian skipper. Both sides met in a T20 World Cup match in October, with Pakistan cruising to a 10-wicket win in the game.
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Babar Azam will be coming back to the action on July 16 when the side will be locking horns with Sri Lanka in the first of two Tests in Galle. Kohli, meanwhile, will be on a break after the third and final ODI of the series against England as he has been rested for the West Indies tour – comprising of 3 ODIs and 5 T20Is.
Here is how the fans reacted:
Well said 👏 2 Kings 🤴 Virat kohli Nd Babar azam ❤️
— Handsome Usman (@usman_handsome) July 15, 2022
when was virat considered the face of cricket ? who decided it ? was there any voting ? i don't know about pakistan , but nobody in india thinks kohli was ever the face of cricket . in india nobody put so much importance to a single player .by the way who is babar ? is he imp ?
— shubh🇮🇳 (@shubhra07015550) July 15, 2022
Babar Azam with a class gesture of publicly backing Virat Kohli's resurgence. 👏
Massive respect, Captain Fantastic! 🫡
Read more: https://t.co/ZBLLUXJVw6#Babar #Kohli pic.twitter.com/kaNhMGThrT
— Cricket Pakistan (@cricketpakcompk) July 15, 2022
After getting defeated by babar azam in world Cup kohli lost his form totally. Is dawood ibrahim destroying kohli through anushka sharma!?@BCCI @kingkohli
— P.V.B.Vamshi Krishna (@PVBVamshiKrishn) July 15, 2022
Babar to Kohli: pic.twitter.com/SGf70L1d2u
— ABSOLUTELY NOT! (@IamHumayon) July 15, 2022
What a great sign by our captain … such a down to earth human being he is. I still remember the critics came across from the other side of the border against babar .. but cricket need such kind of support and love for each other… Respect Babar & Kohli#ViratKohli𓃵 #BabarAzam
— Usman Khan (@usmann_khann) July 15, 2022
Babar to Virat
😭😭 #ViratKohli #BabarAzam #kingkohli pic.twitter.com/bzHSanWEuI— PS Virat kohli fan (@Ps_viratkohli) July 15, 2022
Babar is a fan of Virat kohli
— Harsh ❄ ⛩️ (@HarshJat_17) July 15, 2022
#BabarAzam bola Kohli ko support krnay k mtlb krnay kaaaaa!
Kon hai jo keh rhay thy akohli ki team mai jaga nhi hai babar neh kaha hai to haiiiiiii!!😭❤#ViratKohli𓃵— AYESHA KHAN (@_ayshy_71) July 15, 2022
Our people are having orgasms over this. The fools don't understand that having babar's sympathy ain't a matter of proud, but utter shame.
And i won't be surprised if Kohli send a thank you mssg. He could never be Sachin's successor.— Rohan (@rohan_0808) July 15, 2022
