New Delhi

Pakistan skipper Babar Azam feels that as a player, one should try to back every sportsman in a difficult time and that was his intention when he wrote that public social media message - 'This too shall pass' - for Virat Kohli, saying that there is a mutual empathy between professional athletes and he ultimately wanted his on-field rival to succeed.

Babar's tweet, which he posted in July last year, came in the middle of an extended lean patch for Kohli.

Just a day before, Kohli had fallen for 16 runs in an ODI against England during a 100-run loss for his side. At that stage, Kohli also hadn't scored an international hundred since his 136 against Bangladesh in November 2019.

From his last century until that England ODI, Kohli had scored 806 ODI runs at an average of 36.68 and averaged just 27.25 in Test cricket during the same period.

Asked how he actually came about supporting Kohli, who plays for Pakistan's cricketing adversary India, Babar said that as a sportsperson one must back other players in tough times.

"As a sportsperson, anyone can go through such a time. At that time I thought maybe if I tweet it might give someone help and confidence. See, as a player, you try to back every sportsman in a difficult time," Babar told ICC Digital.

"It is in difficult times when you get to know what you are thinking about others. At that time, I thought I should have done that and maybe something positive will come out of it. Something which can be a plus point," he added.

The former India skipper had also acknowledged Babar's support on Twitter.

"Thank you. Keep shining and rising. Wish you all the best," wrote Kohli.

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Later, Virat returned to the form in white ball cricket. He scored 122 not out against Afghanistan in September 2022 and, since then, he has hit three ODI hundreds and smashed a memorable 82 not out at Melbourne to set up a classic win over Babar-led Pakistan in the ICC T20 World Cup 2022.