ISLAMABAD: There were hits, a lot of misses, a few yawns and a classifieds advert selling Pakistan’s cricket team for Rs50 on Monday.
However, by afternoon, it was #sheesha which was trending on Twitter, reflecting the mood of legions of cricket fans from both India and Pakistan.
While several took a dig at the Pakistani team for their lackadaisical performance during the Cricket World Cup on Sunday, a group of fans took it a step further by posting an ad on OLX – a classifieds portal – putting the team on sale. The post has since been removed.
Indian user Sunanda rounded up the sentiment with her social media post which said that while the Pakistani cricket team was losing on the field, they were winning on Twitter.
On last count, her post had garnered more than 9,000 retweets.
Sunanda’s point of view was shared by historian and teacher, Ammar Ali Jan, who tweeted that Pakistan had brought a smile to billions of faces – a tongue-in-the-cheek post about the innumerable Indians who were celebrating their win against the rival country.
Twitter user Ahmed Mallick poked fun at the Pakistani cricket team by responding to a user – who was looking for someone traveling from the UK to Islamabad – by saying that the men in green were on their way back and could, therefore, be of help to him.
Twitter user “Baji Please” shared a list of things to never get emotionally involved in, listing cricket above in-laws and career choices because “things can and almost always go wrong here.”
Sitting pretty at more than 22,000 likes and 6,000 retweets, Twitter user Aleena Majeed ruffled feathers with her post in Urdu which said that had the partition not happened in 1947, none would have been at the recieving end because of the Pakistan cricket team’s performance on Sunday.
Another Twitter user going by the name, “@MahoBilli” posted that she, along with her siblings, had questioned their mother as to whether seeing Pakistan lose at the World Cup was the sole reason for their existence.
Captain Sarfaraz Ahmed faced the maximum flak for his poor leadership skills – with several thrashing him for choosing to field despite Pakistan winning the toss – and his relentless yawning as the match ran its course.
One Twitter user went as far as to juxtapose Ahmed’s face in place of the roaring lion on MGM’s iconic logo.
While others trolled him for the act.
“Kindly stop sleep shaming our captain,” wrote Twitter user Shumail, adding that “he has the right to sleep on the pitch.”
“When I die I want Sarfaraz to lower me into my grave so he can let me down one last time,” wrote Twitter user “@McBang.”
Ahmed’s yawning came a close second to the team’s decision to smoke sheesha a night before the game as users shared videos and photos of Shoaib Malik with the pipe, going as far as to garner a reaction from Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari who tweeted about the “humiliation.”
Malik’s performance – where he was bowled out with zero runs on his first delivery – prompted a reaction from cricket legend and former Indian player, Sachin Tendulkar who termed his time on the field as a “guest appearance.”
During the game, there were a number of users praying for rain – as a means to end Pakistani fans’ misery – with one Twitter user posting a prayer for rain and asking others to follow suit.
Another Twitter user said that the rain water was in fact his own tears.
The game was disappointing, if not unbearable, to watch for Pakistani fans whose strong rivalry with India is never more intense then when they are on the cricket field.
Culture critic and journalist, Ahmer Naqvi wrote that, soon, the number of Pakistani fans who remember the cricket team beating India at the game will be few and far between, adding that, maybe, that will offer a little peace to fans all over.
Pakistan will next be seen playing against South Africa on June 23.
