10 creative and witty signs seen in the crowd at cricket stadiums

Cricket fans often scream themselves hoarse trying to have their voices heard. They exert every ounce of their strength in yelling as loud as they can in order to make a statement. Some fans though wise up and figure that a better way of having their message heard is by changing the medium of transmission from audio to visual. Fans unleash their creativity in coming up with some witty and eye catching signs and placards, often directed towards a particular player.Also read: M. Chinnaswamy Stadium Bangalore: Seating Arrangement, Layout, Parking, Stands, StatsSome signs are made to celebrate a player, some to poke fun at them, while others just have something witty to say. Here is a look at some witty, tongue-in-cheek, and interesting signs spotted at cricket stadiums across the world.

#1 Meeting the God

Sachin’s game has turned people religious

Sachin Tendulkar has had a wide impact on the sport of cricket. You don’t get to be called the God for nothing. India is a secular country, home to many religions. Each one worship their own God. It takes a special kind of player to be called God by different religions. Religions cannot even agree on the name to call an almighty, but in case of Sachin fans have no qualms about anoiting him as God.

#2 A pun on two countires

They do sound alike

The best part about this sign is that the names actually sound almost the same. The fan has also had the ingenuity to place the modified names on the flags of the countries, making it look almost official.

#3 The small print is important

Some serious brand placement

This is ambush marketing at its finest. One of those cases where it is all too important to read the fine print. One can almost picture a vibrant fan starting to read the sign aloud and finishing the entire text before realizing that he has just unwittingly promoted Makki Oil Store.

#4 Hearty congratulations

An apt positioning of a sign if there ever was

This is a case of blink and you miss it. When a sign is placed above the eye level like the sign above, one tends to read the line below first. In this case one can imagine Shane Warne reading the congratulations and having his chest swell with pride, before his eyes scroll up and the smile is turned upside down.

#5 Messi who?

A new level of self-awareness

One feels for the fans who do not see the irony in this sign. The two exclamation marks at the end do seem to be a dead giveaway. On the other hand, perhaps Yasir Shah would make a compelling argument in favour of a comparison with Messi at some level. If one is considering a choice between Messi and Yasir Shah for a cricket team, the former would probably carry the day on brand value. But if you need a competition to be won in cricket, who really need Messi when you have Yasir Shah?

#6 MS Dhoni takes his share of milk

MS Dhoni is a dairy fan

Rumours abounded of the copious amount of milk Dhoni would consume. It made for quite a story until Dhoni squashed it a bit. He said “Ravi Shastri said that (drink four liters of milk per day) in the post-match presentation at Visakhapatnam, but I don't consume four litres of milk in a day; it's closer to around one litre of buffalo milk. Now I've shifted to milkshakes, but I ensure that I get my daily quota.”

Got Milk is also a catchphrase from an American advertising campaign promoting the consumption of milk.

#7 Homework can wait

A studious designer

Ironically, if the student here were to put equal effort in completing his homework, the question of punishment would not arise. One has to wonder if the child holding the poster did indeed make it on his own. If so, he probably has a budding future as a designer ahead of him.

#8 Captain Cook sails again

Captain Cook did more for Australia apparently

This is one epic burn. Going back to the man who was the first from Europe to record contact with Australia, and putting you down by comparison is just brutal. The text font in the sign makes it seem like a message carved in burning ash, lending all the more gravity to the comparison. While the letter 'One’ appears to be marked in blood.

#9 Luke Skywalker

The force beckons

Luke Wright of England would have preferred to have this news broken to him tad more gingerly. There are delicate ways of finding out if one is adopted, and there are ways akin to ripping the band-aid off the wound. Reading a sign in the crowd and finding out about your birth parents while you are playing for your country has to be one of the worst ways of finding out about your lineage. Not that Darth Vader did it any better though.

#10 India and Pakistan bonding

United we stand indeed

One may think that India vs Pakistan cricket matches are all about dominating the competition and reliving wars fought on battlefields. But the sport also offers fans a chance to express their sentiments of friendship and brotherhood across borders. The above two signs are just a few among the many which express the sentiment of peace and cooperation between India and Pakistan. There may be a rivalry in cricket, but for many it is just a sibling rivalry.