‘This too shall pass’: Sherfane Rutherford recalls Virat Kohli with X on Babar Azam originally appeared Cricket News. Add Cricket News Preferred resource by clicking here.
KEY INFORMATION:
Sherfane Rutherford posted a message of support for Babar Azam on X, using the same line that Babar once sent to Virat Kohli.
Babar’s tweet in July 2022 came after Kohli scored 16 against England at Lord’s and Kohli thanked him in a public reply.
Babar is under pressure due to lack of big scores, Pakistan’s batting coach said the team will continue to support him.
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Shefane Rutherford shows support for Babar Azam, recalls Virat Kohli
Pressure continues to mount on Babar Azam as he failed to make another appearance for his country in the tri-series final against Sri Lanka. The former all-format skipper fell with a five-ball duck as Pakistan narrowly lost the tournament. It marked his seventh innings without a fifty since his 69 against Australia in May.
This period is an unusually lean patch for Babar Azam, a player who was once the equal of the Fab 4. However, Pakistan batting coach Mike Smith continues to stand by Azam. He quickly announced that the administration would continue to support the attack. Smith was not the only one to support Azam.
West Indies batsman Sherfane Rutherford was also quick to show his support for Babar at X, taking the same line used by the Pakistani batsman for Virat Kohli in 2022. Rutherford posted the message with the hashtag #BabarAzam as Babar faced questions about his lack of big scores.
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Rutherford kept his message short and informal, and for anyone who remembers the original, it needs no further explanation. “This too shall pass; be strong my friend,” wrote Rutherford.
It’s not the first time Rutherford has publicly spoken out for Babar. After the final of the 2021 T20 World Cup, he said he was “shocked” that Babar was not named Player of the Tournament.
MORE: ‘Series failure, walking wicket’: Fans criticize Babar for golden duck in ODI Tri-series final
What was Babar Azam’s 2022 message to Virat Kohli and how did Kohli respond?
Babar sent his message in July 2022, a day after Kohli fell for 16 in the second ODI against England at Lord’s. India lost that match by 100 runs and Kohli had not scored an international hundred since November 2019. Babar posted a photo of the two of them together with a short caption. “This too shall pass. Stay strong. #ViratKohli,” Babar wrote.
Kohli responded a few days later on his X account, thanking Babar and wishing him well. “Thank you. Keep shining and rising. I wish you all the best 👏,” Kohli wrote.
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Later, Babar explained why he posted it. “As a sportsperson, anyone can go through a period like this,” he said, adding that he hoped the message might give Kohli some support.
MORE: Pakistan’s recent ODI trophy: Here is the complete list of ODI trophies won by Pakistan
Why “This too shall pass” means more to Babar Azam now
The line quickly became a bipartisan gesture. In October 2022, after Babar was dismissed for a duck against India in the T20 World Cup, Denmark’s Sait tweeted “Babar, this too shall pass”, a remark that bounced back at him for months.
Rutherford’s message is the opposite. This is coming from an international player and is a clear show of support at a point when most of the buzz around Babar is critical. Kohli’s lean patch ended in September that year, when he scored his first international hundred in almost three years against Afghanistan in the Asia Cup.
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Babar has shown in PSL this year that he can still score a lot of goals. Doing the same for Pakistan in the upcoming matches is the only answer that will settle the dispute and a message like Rutherford’s, at the very least, shows that he has support in and out of the dressing room.
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