Indians flood Twitter with ‘revenge’ memes after Pakistan’s T20 World Cup shock
Pakistan cricket team’s dream of winning the T20 World Cup in Australia ended in disaster on Sunday after the Men in Green lost to England by 5 wickets in Melbourne. In the title clash, the Three Lions were just too good in all the departments of the game. Bowling first, Jos Buttler and company restricted Pakistan to a below-par total of 137/8, thanks to Sam Curran’s exceptional figures of 3/12. Subsequently, a Ben Stokes masterclass gave them their second T20 World Cup title. Ben Stokes not only remained unbeaten on 52, but he also struck the winning runs off the bowling of Mohammad Wasim on the final ball of the 19th over. As Babar Azam and his colleagues failed to claim the trophy at the MCG, Indian fans took to Twitter to flood the social network with revenge memes.
The Indian cricket team’s supporters had a lot of fun at Pakistan’s expense and even took swipes at the Green Army’s fans as they shared their views on the microblogging platform.
Pakistan skipper Babar Azam acknowledged that his side was short of at least 20 runs in the final. Additionally, he pointed to Shaheen Shah’s injury who could only bowl 2 overs in the match before limping off the ground.
“Congratulations to England team, we felt like everyone came here to support us, thank you so much. The way the team has gone in the last four matches, incredible. I told the boys to play their natural game, with freedom. We were 20 runs short but fight to the last over was unbelievable. Our bowling is one of the best but unfortunately Shaheen’s injury cost us a different result, but that’s part of the game,” Babar Azam said after Ben Stokes ended his side’s dream of winning their second T20 World Cup crown.
However, India legend Sunil Gavaskar disagreed with Babar Azam, declaring that Pakistan would still have lost the match if Shaheen Afridi hadn’t been injured.
“I don’t think so, as they didn’t have enough runs on the board. They were around 15-20 runs short. Had they got to 150-155, they would have had a better chance and their bowlers would have had a bit of a cushion,” Sunil Gavaskar told India Today.
“But I don’t think the 10 deliveries that Shaheen didn’t bowl would have made that much of a difference. Maybe Pakistan would have got another wicket, but England would still have won,” he added.
Jos Buttler described their T20 World Cup title triumph as “fantastic”.
“This is the icing on the cake, to win the T20 World Cup, just immensely proud. A long journey and a few changes, but we’re reaping the rewards. Fantastic tournament, Pakistan was a valuable time for the group, but this is a way away from the Ireland game,” Jos Buttler said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
“Adil’s over was outstanding, he’s always the guy we throw the ball to to take something happen. It wasn’t easy at all, got away to a decent start which controlled the run-rate, and that man Ben Stokes was there at the end,” Jos Buttler added.
“He’s the ultimate competitor. In anything he does, a hell of a lot of experience to bank on, he timed it perfectly the impetus he and Moeen had took it away from Pakistan,” the England skipper claimed.
Meanwhile, England allrounder Sam Curran was named the Man of the Match and the Player of the Tournament following his figures of 3/12 in the final. In total, Sam Curran picked 13 wickets at an economy rate of just over 6.50.
“I don’t think I should be getting this, the way Stokesy (Ben Stokes) played there… we’re going to enjoy this occasion, very special,” Sam Curran said after England’s historic win.
“They had big square boundaries, so into the wicket, it offered for the seamers, nipping around and a challenge for the chase. The way I bowl, I go into the wicket with my slower balls and keep the batsmen guessing. World Champions, how good!”
Former Pakistan left-arm pacer Mohammad Amir believes that Babar Azam and his boys didn’t deserve to be in the final and their progression through to the title clash was a fluke.
“The fact that we played in the final is a big thing. We didn’t deserve to play in the final. The whole world knows how we advanced to the final. Allah helped us reach there. You will get to know the results if you look at the performance of our batters. Once we got out of Sydney, it was given that this would happen,” Mohammad Amir told 24 News.
“I told you earlier that if the pitch at MCG is the same as it was in the first match, Pakistan will struggle and we did. After winning the toss, we got off to a good start and we knew how the conditions were,” he stated.
“We talked about Haris and his intent. But along with intent, you also need to have sense. On the first ball, he faced off Adil Rashid, he tried to come down the track. On these pitches, you can’t leave it to someone else. The new batter will struggle. Ben Stokes showed that experience and game-awareness,” Mohammad Amir added.
