Twitter lashes out on Ben Duckett after he called Virat Kohli 'a joke'

What's the story?

England batsman Ben Duckett has drawn the ire of Twitterati after he called India's no.1 batsman, Virat Kohli 'a joke' on the micro-blogging site, Twitter. The Indian fans made sure they give a fitting reply to the Englishman who recently toured India as a part of the England 'A' squad.

The background

Ben Duckett had made his Test debut for England against Bangladesh in the year 2016. The left-handed batsman's last Test match came in the same year itself against India, after which the England selectors dropped him from the squad. He currently plays domestic cricket in England and had toured India earlier this year to play against the India A side. Virat Kohli is at the moment the world's best batsman, having an average of nearly 100 since 2018 in ODIs.

The heart of the matter

A joke?.............................. https://t.co/APryZGy3lf

— Ben Duckett (@BenDuckett1) March 8, 2019

A cricket fan page named Cricket Shouts put out an interactive tweet asking the fans to describe Virat Kohli in a sentence. The 24-year-old English wicket-keeper batsman, Ben Duckett replied to the tweet and completed the sentence saying "Virat Kohli is a joke?......"

The Indian cricket fans, who were enjoying Virat Kohli's stupendous innings in the 3rd ODI at Ranchi, made sure they gave an epic response to the young England player, who called Virat Kohli a joke.

Here are some of the best trolls:

Virat Kohli is a joke? For sure!Now complete the sentence.R Ashwin for B. Duckett is ____________Father?Try scoring half the domestic runs as Virat's international runs/If Virat Kohli is a joke, the joke's always on you Englishmen. (Pun intended)

— Rishit_Sachinist*EF* (@RishitShukla) March 9, 2019

🤣😂 pic.twitter.com/FrkdZQRnIK

— Shark 🦈 (@imShariqueRizvi) March 8, 2019

Not asking about yourself ben!

— Farheen⚡ (@Frdeadpool) March 8, 2019

A person who has 'DUCK' in his name itself shouldn't talk about a person who has 66 centuries😊

— Neetesh (@infineetz) March 9, 2019

Hey Ben , not talking about your career here

— Ishan Mishra🇮🇳 (@ishan31396) March 9, 2019

A joke? 😵🥴🤨🙄😑 A CHASEMASTER A FANTASTIC BATSMAN A RUNMACHINE A PATRIOT A MIND BLOWING CRICKETER A RECORD BREAKER A RECORD MAKER 🦄A STAR🌠✨

— Anjali Singh (@aloftAvenger) March 9, 2019

Says a player whose total odi runs are 123... @imVkohli scores that much in every other match 😂😂

— Tushar Shandilya (@TusharShandilya) March 9, 2019

Duck is trynna troll Century. Intresting 🤣

— Savage 🇮🇳 (@CutestFunniest) March 9, 2019

I think u r saying this just standing before the mirror Right😂😂

— Washer online (@washersrkian1) March 9, 2019

Time for some doctor and hospital mate... Get well soon???

— Pavilion Prudhvi (@pavilionprudhvi) March 8, 2019

First try to find a place in WC squad. Then you can mock the best batsman in the world?

— CJ ÃMudhañ (@AMUDHAN_44) March 9, 2019

While some members of the Twitterverse explained Ben's tweet as pure sarcasm and tried to defend him -

I think people have misunderstood him, he's trying to say such level of Kohli is only a joke as it can't be real 😅😅

— Udit (@udit_buch) March 9, 2019

He means joke as in he's so good, it's a joke. Calm down, lads 😉

— NoComment (@HasinNoComment) March 9, 2019

He meant in a good way, you Indians just get too emotional.

— EngelandReloaded84 (@BackOnYourTL) March 8, 2019

What's next?

Ben Duckett had earlier called IPL franchise, Royal Challengers Bangalore a joke after they had lost a match against the Kolkata Knight Riders in 2018. So, it is difficult to conclude whether Duckett praised Kohli or actually called him a joke here.

Virat Kohli will be in action next tomorrow, when he will be leading the Indian team in the 4th ODI against Australia. As for Ben Duckett, we hope he does well in county cricket.