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 .
This too shall pass, stay strong buddy #BabarAzam
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.
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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.
This too shall pass. Stay strong. #ViratKohli pic.twitter.com/ozr7BFFgXt
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.
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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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Deepanjan Mitra is a content writer and editor based in India, with extensive experience working across a variety of sports. He combines a passion for storytelling with an ability to deliver insightful news, analysis, and feature stories and has previously worked for the likes of Sports Illustrated and Essentially Sports.
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