'This too shall pass': Sherfane Rutherford evokes Virat Kohli memory with X post on Babar Azam

Sherfane Rutherford posted a message of support for Babar Azam on X, using the same line Babar once sent to Virat Kohli.

Babar's tweet in July 2022 came after Kohli fell for 16 against England at Lord's, and Kohli thanked him in a public reply.

Babar is under pressure for a lack of big scores, with Pakistan 's batting coach saying the team will continue to back him.

Sherfane Rutherford shows support for Babar Azam, evokes Virat Kohli memory

The pressure on Babar Azam continues to mount as he once again failed to show up for his country in the Tri-series final against Sri Lanka. The former all-format skipper fell for a five-ball duck as Pakistan nearly lost the tournament. It also marked his seventh innings without a fifty since scoring an uneventful 69 against the Aussies in May.

This period is an unseemly lean patch for Babar Azam, a player who was once touted as an equal to the Fab 4. However, Pakistan batting coach Mike Smith continues to remain on Azam's side. He quickly stated that the management would continue to back the batter. Smith wasn't the only one who extended their support to Azam.

West Indies batter Sherfane Rutherford was also quick to show his support for Babar on X, borrowing a line the Pakistan batter himself used for Virat Kohli in 2022. Rutherford posted the message with the hashtag #BabarAzam at a time when Babar is facing questions over a lack of big scores.

Rutherford kept his message short and informal, and it needed no further explanation for anyone who remembers the original. "This too shall pass; stay strong, buddy," Rutherford wrote .

It is not the first time Rutherford has spoken up for Babar in public. After the 2021 T20 World Cup final, he said he was "shocked" that Babar was not named Player of the Tournament.

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 replied on his own X account a couple of days later, thanking Babar and wishing him well. "Thank you. Keep shining and rising. Wish you all the best 👏," Kohli wrote.

Babar later explained why he had posted it. "As a sportsperson, anyone can go through such a time," he said, adding that he hoped the message might give Kohli some support.

Why 'This too shall pass' now means more for Babar Azam

The line quickly became a two-way gesture. In October 2022, after Babar was dismissed for a duck against India at the T20 World Cup, Danish Sait tweeted, "Babar, this too shall pass", and the phrase was thrown back at him for months.

Rutherford's message is the opposite of that. It comes from a fellow international player, and it is a plain show of support at a point when most of the noise around Babar is critical. Kohli's lean patch ended that September, when he scored his first international hundred in almost three years against Afghanistan at the Asia Cup.

Babar has shown in the PSL this year that he can still score heavily. Doing the same for Pakistan in the coming matches is the only reply that will settle the argument, and a message like Rutherford's at least shows he has support in the dressing room and beyond it.

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