The world of social media carries a storyline of its own pertaining to the action that transpires on and off the cricket field. With most cricketers being active members of several social media platforms, discussions, banter, and arguments happen to be a daily dose for a social butterfly.
There has been a gradual increase in web audience in the past few years, and people now find it convenient to follow their cricketing heroes on the web rather than on print or the television.
Tapping into the vast parallel world that runs in front of us, on mobiles and laptops, we bring you the weekly dose of cricket that took place on social media.
#1 Virat Kohli’s heartwarming post on International Women’s Day
On Valentine’s Day, the Indian cricket team’s skipper finally let the cat out of the bag when he confirmed his relationship with Anushka Sharma on Instagram. On the occasion of International Women’s Day, the 28-year-old again posted a special message for the two strongest women in his life, one, of course, was his mother and the other, none other than long-time girlfriend Anushka Sharma.
Virat posted an adorable picture with his mother and the Bollywood star, along with which he wrote, “Happy women’s day to every woman out there, especially to the two strongest women in my life. My mom for looking after the family in toughest times in life and @anushkasharma for fighting against the odds regularly and standing up for righteousness and changing the norms #happywomenday.”
The message came a day after Kohli pulled off a dramatic win against Australia.
#2 Darren Sammy kept his promise of going bald if Peshawar Zalmi won the PSL final
Peshawar Zalmi captain Darren Sammy, who led his team to victory in the grand finale of the cash-rich Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2017 posted a video on Twitter, to prove that he had fulfilled his promise of shaving his head.
Ahead of the final, he had promised that if his team Peshawar Zalmi won the final, “everybody (including owner Javed Afridi) will shave their heads”. The West Indies player said, “As promised, I have shaved my head after winning the PSL final. Now it’s time for the rest of my Peshawar Zalmi teammates including Javed Afridi to follow.”
He uploaded a video of his haircut session on Twitter.
#3 Kumble turns into a left-arm bowler
The 46-year-old Anil Kumble, who is India's highest wicket-taker in Tests (3rd in the world) decided to prepare Virat Kohli and co. to counter the threat of O'Keefe in the upcoming Test match in Ranchi.
Kumble, one of India's finest spinners, started bowling left-handed in the nets to strengthen middle-order batsman Cheteshwar Pujara’s technique against Australia's left-arm bowlers.
"Because they have a left-arm spinner (O'Keefe) he was trying to replicate the ball coming from the corner of the crease and just angling the ball into the right-hander and tried to spin it from there. I was just trying to get used to that angle. And it was really useful for me," said Pujara in an interview with BCCI.TV.
#4 Virat Kohli and Ravi Ashwin steal the show in the BCCI annual awards
Kohli, who has been on a roll with the willow, was awarded the prestigious Polly Umrigar award while all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin was presented with the Dilip Sardesai award at the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) annual awards on March 8 in Bengaluru.
Kohli, who received the award in 2011-12 and in 2014-15, became the first Indian cricketer to be bestowed with the honour on three occasions. Ashwin, who won the Dilip Sardesai award in 2011, became the first Indian cricketer to receive the honour twice.
On receiving the award, Kohli said, “It’s been quite unbelievable the last 10 to 12 months. I am not bothered who thinks what. This is the attitude in dressing room. We learn to win together and lose together. I wanted to be the best in all formats. I saw it as an opportunity and I decided to follow a path and the whole team believed it.”
#5 Steve Waugh visits Varanasi to immerse the ashes of his friend
Even after retiring from the game for more than 13 years now, former Aussie captain Steve Waugh makes frequent trips to India. His involvement with various charities has brought him back to this part of the world quite often.
But last week, he visited Varanasi for a completely different reason – to scatter the ashes of his Sydney-based shoe-shiner friend.
“It was a lifetime opportunity for me and I really wanted to visit that city. It has a very spiritual feeling. To have the honour and privilege of scattering the remains of Brian (Rudd), I feel great about it. He had a very tough life and didn’t have a family. His last wish was to have ashes scattered in the Ganges. I am very glad to have done something for him and it was a celebration of his life,” India Today quoted Waugh as saying.
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