The world of social media, more often than not, carries a storyline of its own pertaining to whatever action transpires on and off the cricket field. With several cricketers being active members of various social media websites, banters, discussions, and to an extent, arguments happen to be a daily dose for a social media buff.
The increasing familiarity with one’s favourite cricketers through the direct engagement that the platforms of Facebook, Twitter etc. provide, makes one believe that their favourite cricketer is only a text away.
Tapping into the endless parallel world that runs in front of us, on our laptop screens and mobiles, we bring to you the weekly dose of IPL cricketing action that took place on the social media.
Virat Kohli – IPL Shoot
Virat Kohli may not be allowed to take the field as yet, after sustaining a shoulder injury during the third Test against Australia in Ranchi last month, but the Royal Challengers Bangalore captain is enjoying his time with teammates in Bengaluru.
Having played a very long season of cricket, the rest is well-deserved, even though the passionate 28-year-old made it clear that he cannot wait to be in action for RCB. But for now, Kohli is seen having a blast shooting commercials for the Vijay Mallya-owned franchise and the latest one has him driving teammates Chris Gayle, Sreenath Aravind, Shane Watson and AB de Villiers around in a jeep.
Kohli took to Twitter to share the shoot video which read: “Shoot time. Driving the boys around. Ah love these moments.”
Steve Smith’s Puneri Attire
Rising Pune Supergiant’s new skipper seems to be enjoying his time in India. After four tiring test matches against the Indians in their own backyard and being the highest run-getter in the series with three centuries, Smith took some time off cricket. The 27-year-old was seen flaunting his newest Indian avatar on Instagram.
The Australian skipper was wearing a Puneri outfit, with the “Puneri Pagadi” on his head. The outfit - coloured maroon and white, looked pretty good on the Aussie.
Ajinkya Rahane also seemed to have been enjoying Smith’s company as he was also seen with him in the picture. Smith said that he was trying out Indian fashion with Ajinkya, seemingly unaware that he was wearing a historic Puneri attire.
The Instagram post was captioned as, “Trying out some traditional Indian fashion here in Pune with Ajinkya. What do y’all think? #fashion #dressups.”
Gautam Gambhir’s Quest for 3rd IPL Title
Gautam Gambhir guided the Kolkata Knight Riders to two IPL titles – in 2012 and 2014 respectively. And he is now eager to add a third star (title) on their jerseys in the tenth edition of the 8-teams tournament. He posted a picture of himself training hard in the nets at Kolkata’s historic Eden Gardens and captioned it, “Just a couple of days before we embark on the quest for our 3rd title. The team is ready to battle it out! #korbolorbojeetbo #kkr”
KKR began their 2017 campaign on a high, getting the better of hosts Gujarat Lions by 10 wickets. In a first, the SRK co-owned franchise sent Australia’s Chris Lynn to open with Gambhir, and the gamble paid off well as both the openers comfortably wrapped up a target of 184 in only 14.5 overs.
AB de Villiers’s tweet for Kedar Jadhav
The 32-year-old from Pune, who became a household name after his heroics against England earlier this year, lit up the Bangalore sky on Saturday night with some tremendous hitting and helped Royal Challengers Banglore put up a decent total of 157/8 against Delhi Daredevils.
The talking point of Jadhav’s knock was that it earned him comparisons with former Indian captain MS Dhoni. Jadhav played Dhoni's 'helicopter shot', and nearly killed stadium crowd with his sixes.
In an over from Amit Mishra, he hit the spinner for two fours and two sixes. The first six of the over landed in the stands, and commentators prayed that no one was hurt.
He went on to make 69 off 37 balls, which was lit up by five fours and five sixes on a day when likes of Shane Watson and Chris Gayle failed.
This earned him a special tweet from teammate Ab de Villiers, who tweeted thus – “Few years ago a guy called @Robwalter17 told me that this @JadhavKedar guy can play.. Not that I didn't believe him, but oh my, this is good”
Being acknowledged by the best in the world sure would have doubled Kedar’s celebrations.
Rohit Sharma’s excitement for IPL
Rohit Sharma returned to the cricket field after a long time. The dashing India opener was out of competitive cricket for nearly five months after he sustained a thigh injury during the ODI series against New Zealand in October 2016.
Rohit had to undergo surgery in London which kept him out of all forms of cricket. But he recovered and participated in two matches for Mumbai in the Vijay Hazare trophy. But, the Mumbai Indians skipper again missed the Deodhar Trophy after suffered a knee injury.
Mumbai lost to Pune in their 2017 opening encounter and Sharma, who is the third highest run-getter in the IPL, failed to deliver a decent knock. But his excitement about his return to cricket is evident in his Twitter picture in which he is seen training in the MI jersey, and the caption reads – “Time to put thinking hat on here comes @ipl @mipaltan”
Rohit will look to regain his form tonight in MI’s second clash of the season, this time with KKR.
Yuvraj Singh’s heartwarming tweet to a bereaved Rishabh Pant
Royal Challengers Bangalore may have won their encounter against Delhi Daredevils, and Kedar Jadhav adjudged the Man of the Match, but the star of the night was the 19-year-old Rishabh Pant. While his 36-ball 57 was far from his personal best, it stood out for the circumstances in which the Delhi lad scored it.
After losing his father to an untimely death on Thursday night, he was back to the field on Saturday after performing his father’s last rites in Haridwar. Pant’s 57 came only three days after his personal tragedy, and the world was in awe of his heroics.
Seeing the youngster exhibit such daredevilry, both with the bat and his emotions, Yuvraj Singh took to twitter to extol him.
“Sorry for the loss of your father Rishab Panth still batted really well under pressure tough to deal mentally All credit to @RCBTweets," tweeted they left-hander.
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