The world of social media, more often than not, carries a storyline of its own pertaining to whatever action transpires on and off the cricket field. With several cricketers being active members of various social media websites, banters, discussions, and to an extent, arguments happen to be a daily dose for a social buff. The increasing familiarity with one’s favourite cricketers through the direct engagement that the platforms of Facebook, Twitter etc. provide, makes one believe that their favourite cricketer is only a text away.
It also provides the cricketers to speak their minds to millions of their fans. Twitter, particularly, is one of the favourite social media platform for cricketers. The year of 2016 saw some really interesting, and witty Tweets being sent out by cricketers. So as part of our year-end articles, we at Sportskeeda have compiled a list of the best Tweets of 2016.
#10 Kevin Pietersen
Earlier in 2016, England’s swashbuckling batsman Kevin Pietersen was not included in the 15-member squad for the World T20 to be held in India. Pietersen was in fine form then after having a successful stint with the BBL franchise Melbourne Stars in late 2015. However even after the good form, Pietersen was constantly been ignored by the ECB due to disciplinary issues and differences with few teammates. Pietersen played down his exclusion from the squad, and saw the funny side of it.
#9 Jimmy Neesham
New Zealand all-rounder Jimmy Neesham took a witty dig on Indian roads comparing it the US President. India doesn’t boast of the best infrastructure in the world, and Neesham’s Tweet was a backhanded jibe on Indian roads, that did no go well with the Indian public.
#8 Suresh Raina
When Bangladesh still needed 2 runs off three balls against India in a Group match of the World T20, Mushfiqur Rahim ho was batting then broke into a small celebration, as if his team has already won the match. Three balls later, Bangladesh ended up on the losing side. Suresh Raina put up a witty Tweet after the match, taking a dig at Mushfiqur's premature celebrations.
#7 Phil Simmons
The ecstatic West Indies head coach, Phil Simmons indirectly took a dig at the former Hampshire cricketer and the famous English commentator, Mark Nicholas after the Caribbean side defeated the overwhelming favourites, India in the second semi-final match of the ICC World T20 in Mumbai.
Mark Nicholas, previously, referred to the current crop of West Indian cricketers as “a group with no brains.” Here is what Simmons had to say after the ‘Men in Maroon’ registered their final date with England at the magnificent Eden Gardens in Kolkata on 3 April 2016.
#6 Rising Pune Supergiants
IPL’s new franchise Rising Pune Supergiants (RPS) and Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) trolled each other on Twitter, following Pune’s 4-runs defeat on the hands of Sunrisers Hyderabad.
#5 Virender Sehwag
After India became the Kabaddi champions for the 8th time after winning the World Cup, Twitter’s newest troll Virender Sehwag took a witty dig at Piers Morgan, who belongs to England, a country that invented cricket and has never won the cricket World Cup. Who wants a real-life Virender Sehwag versus Piers Morgan roast? We do!
#4 Mohammed Kaif
After the Uri attacks, the Indian government tighten the security across the country. This also meant that the leaves of all the jawans had to be cancelled because the possibility of a military operation between India and Pakistan.
Former Indian cricketer Mohammed Kaif wrote this heart-warming Tweet requesting the Indian public to offer a seat in the bus or train if they see them.
#3 Amitabh Bachchan
After Virat Kohli helped India beat Australia in a Group match of the World T20, England cricketer Andrew Flintoff, in a rather condescending manner, tweeted that if Kohli kept on batting the same way, he could match the calibre of Joe Root one day.
India’s biggest movie icon and also a huge sports fan, Amitabh Bachchan, latched on to the opportunity and replied to Flintoff’s tweet in Hindi. Bachchan tweeted in Hindi, “Root who? Jadd se ukhad do Root ko! (Will rip apart Root from his roots).
#2 Virender Sehwag
During the Rio Olympics, when India was struggling to get even a single medal, Shobha De tweeted that Indian athletes went to the Olympics only to ‘take selfies and waste time’. When Sakshi Malik brought India their first medal, a spoof account of Virender Sehwag made an pun-based tweet taking a dig at Shobha De, 'Sakshi Malik ke gale main medal kitna Shobha De raha hai’ (The medal glitters beautifully on Sakshi Malin).
In reply, the 'real' Virender Sehwag continued to conversation, showing support to his own parodu account.
#1 Virat Kohli
India’s Test skipper Virat Kohli sent out one of the most influential Tweets of 2016, when wrote to support Anushka Sharma and bashed everyone who blamed or trolled Anushka for the non-performance of Kohli.
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