Narendra Modi's epic reply to Ravi Shastri's 'tracer bullet' remark wins hearts

What’s the story?

Ravi Shastri’s patented dialogues while commentating are enshrined in the minds of every Indian. Over the years, his ‘that’s gone like a tracer bullet’, ‘he’s taken the aerial route’ and ‘at the end of the day, cricket is real winner’ have been used to describe countless incidents during the game.

What one might not have known is that his commentary cliches have even caught India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s attention.

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Shastri congratulated the BJP on their remarkable win in Uttar Pradesh in his own style on Twitter –

Congratulations @BJP4India on the landslide win in UP. The pair of PM @narendramodi & @AmitShah went past 300-mark like a #TracerBullet

— Ravi Shastri (@RaviShastriOfc) March 16, 2017

Narendra Modi’s reply to Ravi Shastri left people in absolute splits!

Thank you. UP polls did not quite go down to the wire. But, at the end of the day democracy is indeed the real winner! :) https://t.co/suoTqZtXit

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 16, 2017

The context

The BJP recorded a famous win in the Uttar Pradesh state elections recently. Out of the 403 seats on offer, the BJP claimed a massive 325 to record a comprehensive victory.

Narendra Modi’s PR machinery is amongst the best in the world and they miss no opportunity to further endear him to the masses. This was one such instance.

The details

Ravi Shastri’s tracer bullet dialogue is arguably his most famous. The popularity of the line was enhanced during England’s tour of India where they ran a #tracerbulletchallenge with hoards of famous cricketers and commentators doing their rendition of the same.

Modi’s reply to Shastri has gone viral and there have been a number of funny reactions to his tweet. The tweet was also noticed by BJP President Amit Shah, who best explained the UP elections in cricketing terms –

Thank you @RaviShastriOfc. Team BJP piled up 300+ on the back of many singles that our karyakartas and Modi government took along the way. https://t.co/MiffG9BRuB

— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) March 16, 2017

Reactions

.@narendramodi Sir but all the three results weren't possible.

— Maithun - HMP (@Being_Humor) March 16, 2017

Breaking News: Ravi Shastri to quit commentary after BCCI found a replacement for him. @narendramodi

— Silly Point (@FarziCricketer) March 16, 2017

@narendramodi Chha gaye sir. It was a spinning wicket but your batsmen played very well.

— Atulya Mahajan (@amreekandesi) March 17, 2017

Author’s take

Fans were thrilled to see two of the country’s biggest interest – cricket and politics merge together to make a beautiful combination. Both responses to Shastri’s tweet were extremely witty and made for great reading. Ravi Shastri will surely have been at a loss for words after the reply but would have taken it sportingly.