IND vs ENG 2021: Wasim Jaffer gives a witty Game of Thrones-themed reply to Barmy Army's challenge for Virat Kohli

Wasim Jaffer has, in his own witty way, backed Virat Kohli and Team India for the upcoming five-Test series against England.

Barmy Army, a famous English fan-based group that supports the team from the crowd, put up a social media post on Thursday asking the Indian captain whether he's ready to take on the hosts.

In reply, Wasim Jaffer posted a meme from the popular TV show Game of Thrones saying, "Why do you think I came all this way?" signifying the Indian fans' eagerness to win the series.

The former opening batter also wrote Virat Kohli's name over the meme's protagonist, Bran Stark's head, with a 'King' emoji.

Bring it on 😎 #ENGvIND #ViratKohli https://t.co/widfNWbgAj pic.twitter.com/oVLixvA83C

— Wasim Jaffer (@WasimJaffer14) July 22, 2021

The friendly exchange comes just weeks before the first Test of the much-anticipated series. Virat Kohli and Joe Root will go head to head on August 4 at Trent Bridge, Nottingham, to kick off the second World Test Championship (WTC) cycle.

Both teams, flawed but among the strongest in the world, will be raring to begin on a winning note. India will be desperate to set aside the WTC final defeat against New Zealand last month. England, on the other hand, has the crucial Ashes to prepare for.

Both teams have struggled for consistency and joint efforts from the batting order, with their bowlers left to do the heavy lifting. Like the last time India toured here, this series is expected to favor the seamers once again.

The visitors will hope that their most senior campaigners, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane, will come good. In contrast, England will wish for a better sense of responsibility from youngsters like Zak Crawley and Ollie Pope.

Full squads for Virat Kohli and Joe Root's teams

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇮🇳 England have named their 17-strong squad for the first two Tests against India, with a number of key players returning!What do you make of the squad? And who are you most excited about seeing?#ENGvIND https://t.co/Zf7X4pyTUS

— England's Barmy Army (@TheBarmyArmy) July 22, 2021

India Squad: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (c), Ajinkya Rahane (vc), Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wk), R. Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Mohd. Shami, Md. Siraj, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav, KL Rahul (subject to fitness clearance), Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper; subject to fitness clearance).

England Squad for first two Tests: Joe Root (c), James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Dom Bess, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Zak Crawley, Sam Curran, Haseeb Hameed, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Dom Sibley, Ben Stokes, Mark Wood.