‘We Will Love You More Than Babar Azam’: Pakistan Fan’s Message To Virat Kohli During Multan Test

File photo of Virat Kohli.© AFP

Pakistan lost their second Test match in a row as they went down to England by 26 runs in Multan on Monday. England, on their first Test tour of Pakistan in 17 years, won the first Test by 74 runs in Rawalpindi. The losses come at a time when there is lot of confusion regarding Pakistan’s stand on the 2023 Asia Cup. In October, BCCI secretary Jay Shah had indicated that the 2023 Asia Cup, scheduled to be held in Pakistan, could be held at a neutral venue. After Shah’s remarks about holding Asia Cup at a neutral venue, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) issued a statement that it can impact Pakistan’s visit to India for the ICC ODI World Cup 2023.

“The overall impact of such statements has the potential to split the Asian and international cricketing communities and can impact Pakistan’s visit to India for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 and future ICC Events in India in the 2024-2031 cycle,” PCB had said then.

In this backdrop, two Pakistan fans had a unique message for former India captain Virat Kohli during the Multan Test. They held placards during the match which read: “Hi! King Kohli come and play Asia Cup. We will love you more than our king Babar.”

Virat Kohli fans in Pakistan – The craze is huge. pic.twitter.com/THW0veDL7L

— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) December 12, 2022

Earlier, following PCB’s statement, Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur had said that India will host the 2023 World Cup with all teams. “It is an internal matter of BCCI and it will handle the issue smartly. We have not done anything wrong yet while hosting international tournaments before. We have hosted World Cup successfully before and all teams participated happily. We will host the tournament next year and all teams will play in it,” Thakur had said in October.

BCCI President Roger Binny also said that touring Pakistan for Asia Cup 2023 is not the board’s call, but they will rely on the government’s decision.

“That is not our call. We cannot say where our team has to go. We need to take clearance from the government if we leave the country, or other countries come here. We cannot take that decision on our own, we have to rely on the government,” Binny had said.