Virat Kohli, a former captain of the Indian cricket team and the world’s most famous cricketer presently, who is known for his mind-blowing batting, hasn’t struck a century in a game since 2019.
And in IPL too, he continued his poor form and has only 216 runs for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in 12 IPL matches. Worst of all, Kohli has been removed for a golden duck three times this season, the first time in his career. Kohli is having one of his worst IPL seasons ever, and it’s not an exaggeration to say so.
Virat Kohli wanted to give Diwali tips.
After three IPL golden ducks, I think he needs some basic batting tips.
What a terrible fall..
— Kiran Kumar S (@KiranKS) May 9, 2022
While several cricketers, like Kevin Pietersen and Wasin Jaffer, have urged Kohli to take a break from the game, Mohammad Rizwan has to disagree.
Mohammad Rizwan, a Pakistani cricketer, who is currently playing for Susses in English County, has backed “champion player” Virat Kohli to immediately return to form. Rizwan said he would “pray” for Kohli since he feels he is a hardworking player who has accomplished amazing things during his distinguished career but is presently going through a difficult period.
While talking with Cricwick, he said,
“I will say that he is a champion player but at this stage, we can pray for him because he is a hard-working cricketer.”
He went on to say,
“And tough times do come and things do get easier too. Every player has scored centuries and got out on pairs and this goes on. I can only pray for him and I am hopeful that through hard work, he will control all the things.”
“Things do get easier” 🤞
Mohammad Rizwan is confident that Virat Kohli will get through the tough times 👏#Rizwan #ViratKohli #PAKvIND #IPL2022 pic.twitter.com/RynNorEKiH
— CricWick (@CricWick) May 10, 2022
Fans of Kohli as well as honest cricket fans excluding trolls were taken aback by Rizwan’s warm comments, which came from one of the key players of a team that is frequently seen as India’s fiercest opponent.
By quoting Amitabh Bachchan’s quote, the editor of Pak Passion, Sid Sadiq wrote on Twitter,
“Amitabh Bachchan “the stories we tell can often become larger than us & can skip lightly across borders, sometimes riding on cricket, sometimes through film. Sometimes they nestle in the warmth of the hugs that Virat Kohli gave Mohammad Rizwan & Babar Azam” #T20WorldCup #INDvPAK
Amitabh Bachchan “the stories we tell can often become larger than us & can skip lightly across borders, sometimes riding on cricket, sometimes through film. Sometimes they nestle in the warmth of the hugs that Virat Kohli gave Mohammad Rizwan & Babar Azam” #T20WorldCup #INDvPAK pic.twitter.com/ArGNEOnvy1
— Saj Sadiq (@SajSadiqCricket) November 27, 2021
The fans of the Team India were left awestruck by Rizwan
Rizwan (in Cricwick) said “The conversation with Virat was bit personal, even my brother doesn’t know – I will say, he is a champion player. I can pray for him because he is hardworking, he will overcome – tough times do come, things will get easier – every player go through it.
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) May 11, 2022
They praised Rizwan for his humility and also compared him to some of India’s most poisonous cricket fans, who criticise everything he does on and off the field. One user wrote,
When your oppnents praise you but xyz of zero athleteticism and knowledge says “finished”, you know your worth. ❤ https://t.co/0QDOF85awA
— Isha (@Isha_0217) May 11, 2022
Amid all these remarks, many users pointed out how Kohli’s own team didn’t support him. As one user put it,
the whole world is rooting for you except your own team bro https://t.co/4qW2NDpoB6 pic.twitter.com/inejyr9168
— Dewald Brevis (@BcciHatebot) May 11, 2022
Let me tell you that Mohammad Rizwan is the Pakistani cricketer whose photographs of embracing Kohli after the India versus Pakistan T20 World Cup match went viral last year. It’s not totally unfair to say that Cricket doesn’t see boundaries and enmities between the countries. While India and Pakistan play some seriously intensified games with passion from both sides, we still witnessed these warm gestures from both sides.
While we all can pray along with Rizwan that Kohli will soon come back in his old form.