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In the age of social media, no one is immune from the social virus. Like most other celebrities from various fields, cricketers have also developed a liking to the micro-blogging site of Twitter. Along with the national cricket boards, most of the cricketers have their individual verified account on Twitter.
While plenty of cricketers use Twitter for the promotion of brands, many do not refrain themselves from interacting with the fans and fellow cricketers. The witty conversations between two cricketers excite the legion of their followers and capture the attention of the social souls.
Twitter banter among cricketers is commonplace now and we see more and more cricketers engaging in the exchanges. Here five best Twitter banters that took place between cricketers in the year 2018.
#5 Aakash Chopra takes guard against Brad Hodge and Damien Fleming
India and Australia share a common passion for the game of cricket. Over the years, we have seen this love being culminated in an intense rivalry. There is always a love-hate relationship between the two leading nations of the game. It was illustrated with an example when Brad Hodge, Damien Fleming and Aakash Chopra engaged in Twitter banter.
It began with a tweet from 7Cricket. The account posted a novel playing XI of cricketers who had never played T20 cricket. The ‘Ultimate T20 XI’ was selected by former Australian batsman Brad Hodge. It included the names like Don Bradman, Viv Richards, Gary Sobers, but it had no place for an Indian cricketer.
Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra pointed out the fact and expressed shock over not even considering the selection of Kapil Dev.
Brad Hodge asked the Indian Test opener how he wanted to the team to be. Meanwhile, Damien Fleming jumped in and teased Aakash Chopra over his batting style. Chopra was known to be a defensive batsman whose strike rate was never spectacular.
Brad Hodge added to the joke by calling Chopra a sleep-inducing batsman.
Aakash Chopra cracked back with a fitting reply. The Australians had forgotten that the Indian opener had played T20 Cricket in the IPL.
#4 James Anderson and Stuart Broad discuss bowling ends
Fast bowlers hunt in a pair. One of the most spectacular bowling pairs in modern cricket is the fabulous English duo James Anderson and Stuart Broad. Anderson is the leading wicket-taker in the history of English cricket while Broad has also crossed the mark of 400 Test wickets. Both of them have been terrorizing the batsmen, but a banter on Twitter pitted them against each other.
The spark to the cheeky conversation was provided by a Twitter user named Stephen Jones. Old Trafford cricket ground at Manchester named one of their bowling ends after James Anderson.
Referring to developments, Jones posted a question, “A question I feel needs to be answered ... does @jimmy9 bowl from the James Anderson end at Old Trafford or allow @StuartBroad8 that honour?!”
Stuart Broad was quick to reply to this in-swinging query.
The reply stirred up James Anderson and the following exchange took place.
The conversation ended with the cheeky reply from James Anderson and fittingly Jones declared him the clear winner. Perhaps, we will similar banter when the ‘Stuart Broad End’ is unveiled sometime in the future.
#3 Ravichandran Ashwin - Herschelle Gibbs banter takes an ugly twist
Usually, the exchanges between cricketers on the social media are clever and pleasant. With fans and cricket boards paying close attention, the players do mince their words and try their best to not stir up any controversy. However, on this occasion, there was an exception.
Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin is known for his presence on Twitter. He occasionally tweets on latest happenings and replied to fans as well. The tweet that sparked controversy was a promotional tweet. Here is how it all began.
Former South African batsman Herschelle Gibbs found humor in the promotion and took a dig at the Indian cricketer. Ashwin is notoriously criticized for his slow running.
The reply did not go well with Ashwin. In the heat of the moment, the off-spinner brought up Gibbs’ tainted past where he investigated for the charges of match-fixing. Ashwin later deleted the tweet as it did not go well with the cricketing community. Here is what the spinner had tweeted.
"Surely not as fast you did mate, unfortunately, I wasn’t as blessed as you were. But I was blessed with a wonderfully ethical mind not to fix games which put food on my plate."
Gibbs sensed the foulness of the statement and tried salvaging the situation by backing out.
Ashwin later explained that he had meant the jibe to be a joke. He tried mellowing down the tension by invoking a dinner possibility in the future.
#2 Sourav Ganguly and Nasser Hussain turn back the clock at Lord’s
Sourav Ganguly occupies a very special place in the Indian cricket fan’s heart. The Bengal Tiger is often named as the change agent in Indian cricket. It was his aggression and fighting ability that transformed the nation’s playing attitude and turned them into one of the best teams in the world. One moment that best captures these emotions is Ganguly swirling his jersey at the Lord’s balcony after India’s miraculous win in the Natwest Series final.
In July 2018, Sourav Ganguly was back at the same place. Of course, his famous Test debut had also taken place at the Lord’s cricket ground, and the left-hander had struck a scintillating century to mark his arrival. This is what Ganguly tweeted from the illustrious location.
India had defeated England in the Natwest Series final after which Ganguly had removed his jersey. England’s captain in that match was Nasser Hussain, who had scored a career-saving century on the occasion. The Chennai-born Englishman reminded Ganguly of his charismatic act.
The banter evoked the finest moments of Indian cricket at the iconic ground.
#1 Parthiv Patel slams a boundary off Virender Sehwag’s bouncer
Everyone remembers the boyish Parthiv taking up the gloves for India at the tender age of 17. The Gujarati cricketer failed to establish himself in the national team and gradually lost his spot to MS Dhoni. Parthiv kept plundering runs in the domestic cricket and bided his time to make a return to the national squad one day.
One such opportunity came Parthiv’s way when India’s regular wicket-keeper Wriddhimaan Saha was injured in India’s tour to South Africa. The diminutive batsman was called up as cover and he arrived promptly. Virender Sehwag came up with a cheeky tweet to tease Parthiv Patel.
Virender Sehwag is known for his trolling of fellow cricketers and often gets away with it. On this occasion, Parthiv decided to give a hilarious reply.
Patel’s sense of humor was appreciated from all quarters. The glove-man wrote, "Idhar meri perfect size wale bahut gloves le ke aaya hu.. ise udhar hi rakhe aap..delhi mai thand Badh gayi hai to ghar me kisi ke Kaam aaynege..." (I’ve got several gloves that fit me perfectly out here with me. Keep these with you. Given the cold, it might help someone back home)
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