New Delhi: The social media fallout of Pakistan’s 10-wicket win over India in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup continued Tuesday when former international cricketers from either side of the border, Harbhajan Singh and Mohammad Amir, engaged in Twitter banter that devolved into a war of words.
Amir had first tagged Harbhajan in a tweet Monday. In apparent reference to the banter Harbhajan and former Pakistani pacer Shoaib Akhtar engaged in over the weekend, Amir expressed hope that Harbhajan had not broken his television as it is “just a game of cricket”.
hello everyone woh pochna yeah tha @harbhajan_singh paa ji ne TV to ni tora apna koi ni hota hai end of the day its a game of cricket ?.
— Mohammad Amir (@iamamirofficial) October 25, 2021
Harbhajan’s response came a day later, after Pakistan’s win over New Zealand, as he uploaded an old video of him hitting a six off Amir’s bowling to win a 2010 Asia Cup match.
Ab Tum bi bologe @iamamirofficial yeh 6 ki landing tumhare ghar k tv par to nahi hui thi ?? Koi nahi hota hai end of the day it’s a game of cricket as u rightly said ? https://t.co/XqSnWhg9t3 pic.twitter.com/4IuWpPOpF1
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) October 26, 2021
Amir then shared a video of Harbhajan conceding 24 runs in four balls to Shahid Afridi in a Test match in 2006.
https://t.co/tZGLtwBKCa me busy tha @harbhajan_singh apki bowling dekh raha tha test jab LaLA ne apko 4 bowls pe 4 sixes mare thay but cricket hai lag sakte but test cricket me ????thora ziada ho gia tha
— Mohammad Amir (@iamamirofficial) October 26, 2021
It all appeared to be friendly banter until Harbhajan decided to reference Amir bowling deliberate no-balls in the infamous case of spot-fixing in the Lord’s Test match against England in 2010, for which Amir was banned from all cricket for five years. “Shame on you and your other supporters for disgracing this beautiful game,” Harbhajan tweeted.
Lords mai no ball kaise ho gya tha ?? Kitna liya kisne diya ? Test cricket hai no ball kaise ho sakta hai ? Shame on u and ur other supporters for disgracing this beautiful game https://t.co/nbv6SWMvQl
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) October 26, 2021
Amir took this tweet as evidence of the Indian off-spinner being unnerved and doubled down on his previous tweet.
lagi pichware pe @harbhajan_singh k bhago bhago LALA aya hai https://t.co/YuoB9jsZVx
— Mohammad Amir (@iamamirofficial) October 26, 2021
Harbhajan then went deeper into his criticism of Amir’s past transgressions, stating that people like Amir are only interested in money and not honour or integrity, before telling him to “get lost”.
For people like you @iamamirofficial only Paisa paisa paisa paisa .. na izzat na kuch aur sirf paisa..bataoge nahi apne desh walo ko aur supporters ko k kitna mila tha .. get lost I feel yuk talking to people like you for insulting this game and making people fool with ur acts https://t.co/5aPmXtYKqm pic.twitter.com/PhveqewN6h
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) October 26, 2021
But the scrap did not end there, as Amir pulled out every possible target he could find against Harbhajan, from another reference to Pakistan’s Sunday win, to Harbhajan being reported for a suspect bowling action.
Bare hi dheet ho talking about my past wouldn't change the fact that tumko 3 din pehle moun ki khani pari. and how about your illegal bowling action mate ab nikal or humko WC win karta dekh. walk over tu nhi mila jao Park me walk karo u'll feel better @harbhajan_singh https://t.co/i1dCh7I28c
— Mohammad Amir (@iamamirofficial) October 26, 2021
Harbhajan then re-shared a clipped version of the same Asia Cup video, saying, “Fixer ko sixer.. out of the park…chal daffa ho ja.”
Fixer ko sixer.. out of the park @iamamirofficial chal daffa ho ja pic.twitter.com/UiUp8cAc0g
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) October 26, 2021
But Amir had the last word.
chal bhai me tu laga sone, u sit and do some icing on ur pichwara trust me u'll in ur senses. GOOD NIGHT . https://t.co/76CEWvADDq
— Mohammad Amir (@iamamirofficial) October 26, 2021
This extended scrap between Amir and Harbhajan attracted a great deal of attention from cricket fans on Twitter, some of whom continued to engage in arguments over the two players’ careers, while others called out their immature behaviour.
Shaw and Parag are called immature just because of few stories and tweets..they can never reach Amir and Bhajji levels man????
— Kill Bill Pandey (@KingShawEra) October 26, 2021
Md. Amir getting Guard of Honour for his contribution to cricket pic.twitter.com/5bpuLO5HtL
— Rahul (@BeingTrickyy) October 26, 2021
Seeing the disgraceful remarks by Waqar Younis, the awein ka phadda between Nauman Niaz & Shoaib Akhtar while seated among international guests, and the Amir-Harbhajan blaady-why-you, I'm just feeling extra grateful that our current crop of players is beyond this. Knock on wood!
— Hafsa Khawaja (@Hafsa_Khawaja) October 26, 2021
India’s next match in the World Cup will take place on 31 October against New Zealand, while Pakistan will play Afghanistan on 29 October.
(Edited by Shreyas Sharma)
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