New Delhi: Nepalis aren’t the only ones celebrating their fledgling cricket team’s miraculous 230 runs against India at the 2023 Asia Cup match; Pakistanis are going all out to mock India’s mighty men in blue for their dismal bowling performance against the minnows, starting a meme-heavy social media war among fans.
#IndvsNep has brought an onslaught of derision toward the Indian team, criticising captain Rohit Sharma for having let Nepal score a decent total of 230 runs. One dedicated Pakistani fan even made a bar chart showing the most catches dropped by Indian players since the 2019 World Cup, while another jeered at India’s “poor batting, pathetic fielding and useless bowling”. From memes to reactions, it appears that Virat Kohli and Shubman Gill are bearing the brunt of India’s poor performance against Nepal in the northern neighbour too.
Let's All Laugh At 🔔 Ka King😭#IndvsNep pic.twitter.com/iBGbM8pNTS
— Hassan (@HassanAbbasian) September 4, 2023
Attention seeker software update in just 1 hour
Laughing stock #IndvsNep #INDvNEP #INDvPAK #AsiaCup23 pic.twitter.com/E6TjpHyYZL
— Ash (@Ashsay_) September 4, 2023
Another X user opted for an illustration to get the message across. When the Indian cricket team is facing ‘minnows’, it’s a big husky, but that quickly changes when it faces Pakistan.
Reality pic.twitter.com/LCbWnm3PA2
— Yousaf (@theYousafR) September 4, 2023
@rovvmut_ got more creative and compared Gill to a sickly, powerless Captain America when facing “top teams” like Pakistan.
Shubman Gill Shubham Gill
against top teams against minnows#INDvsNEP pic.twitter.com/fuFmAlo8p6
— 𝙃𝙚𝙞𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙗𝙚𝙧𝙜. (@rovvmut_) September 4, 2023
There was similar excitement when India and Pakistan faced off against each other at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Sri Lanka’s Kandy on Saturday, but the rains played spoilsport and the match was called off. The last time the two countries played against each other was in the ODI World Cup in 2019, where India defeated Pakistan by 89 runs.
When fans are fighting, it does get nasty. A Pakistani fan went on to compare the supposed diet of the two teams, writing ‘Beef lover vs vegetarian’ and contrasting the pace of respective team’s bowlers.
Beef lover Vs Vegetarian.#INDvPAK #PAKvIND #IndvsNep #AsiaCup2023 #CricketTwitter pic.twitter.com/dDhLG8oBQ9
— Out Of Context Cricket (@GemsOfCrickett) September 4, 2023
The same handle went on to criticise India captain Rohit Sharma and his fans for his continued poor show, calling them ‘dumb’. Even BCCI secretary Jay Shah was not spared.
The next encounter between the archrivals is on 10 September.
While the Pakistani audience has expressed their opinions all too clearly, the Indian audience hasn’t ceased to show support for their team by showing love for players through social media posts and video edits.