This is Kohli's reply to Pakistan skipper Azam's show of support

Star Indian batsman Virat Kohli has responded to Pakistan skipper Babar Azam's show of support.

As the debate raged on about Kohli's batting form, Azam had tweeted: "This too shall pass. Stay Strong.”

And Kohli replied to the post on Saturday by saying: "Thank you. Keep shining and rising. Wish you all the best," with a clap emoji at the end.

Azam, who is leading Pakistan in the first Test against Sri Lanka in Galle had added on Friday: “As a player (tough) times can fall on you as well. I know how a player goes through such times and how he comes out of it. So he needs support in those times and as a player I tweeted to support him.”

Azam, who is often compared to Kohli for his prolific run-scoring, added: “He is one of the best players and he knows how to come out of this. It takes time but we should back him.”

Former cricketers including Kapil Dev have said Kohli should be dropped and youngsters given a chance to prove their worth in a competitive Indian team.

India captain Rohit Sharma, however, has backed his senior batsman to bounce back soon. “He has been such a great batsman, he doesn’t need reassurances,” Rohit said after his team’s ODI loss to England on Thursday.

“Form does go up and down, it’s part (and) parcel of a player’s life. It’s just a matter of one or two innings” for Kohli, he added.

Sourav Ganguly, president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, said Kohli “has got to find his way” to score runs again.

Many former players, including Ashish Nehra, believe the star batsman should take a prolonged break to get his batting mojo back.

Kohli, who has hit 27 centuries in 102 Tests since making his debut in 2011, has endured a torrid 12 months that also saw him replaced as India’s captain.