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Ever since social media entered into our mainstream lives, humour has claimed itself to be a close cousin of any pop culture phenomenon. Cricket, or sports, in general, could do little but accept this mischievous cousin into its family. In that respect, the recently concluded ICC Cricket World Cup had a fair share of mockery to take in its stride.From memes to tweets to caricatures, the gags came in all shapes and sizes and from all directions - north, south, east, and west. Everytime a team faltered or stooped to its lowest performance, Twitter witnessed unprecedented traffic.Each time a cricketer lets a desultory word slip out, it went viral in the form of memes on Facebook. Were you oblivious to all the fun that had been going on around during the sporting extravaganza? Worry not, as we present you with a compilation of the most trolled teams during the World Cup:
#5 India
It isn’t only about playing the sport and winning it; it is also about how you remain stoic and unwavering while you carry a billion hopes. At any point in time, the Indian cricket team can be said to be the most talked about team in world cricket for the game is worshipped as a religion in the world’s biggest democracy.
As is the current trend, with more attention comes more trolling. Indian players have often found themselves in dire situations after having uttered a loose statement. Media does its bit by blowing things out of proportion only rubbing salt on the injury.
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In the current Indian line-up, Virat Kohli seems to be the target piece as his temperament frequently lands him in trouble in one way or another. He was under fire for abusing a journalist who he mistook for someone else who wrote unpalatable things about his personal life. Shortly after, BCCI came down harshly on him and sent out a loud warning to the maverick Indian batsman.
India enjoyed a seven-match unbeaten run during the World Cup before they succumbed to a strong Australian side in the semi-final. Though a majority of the fans came in support of the Men in Blue after the dismal exit, few became vociferous about the abysmal performances from players like Ravindra Jadeja and took a dig at his weird looking haircut.
#4 Australia
From what we have observed over the decades, the Australians are known to be ruthless against their adversaries. They get on the opponents’ nerves and bring them out of their comfort zone, and if the game is played in Australia, things can only head to the next level. Under the cricketing parlance, their act more often than not gets to be defined as ‘sledging’.
They are undoubtedly the most successful team cricket has ever seen, nevertheless, the coarse conduct of the Aussie flank doesn’t generally appear in the good books of the rest of the world. Counting the controversies their players have courted so far is same as counting the stars in the sky and this World Cup was no different.
Mitchell Johnson, for instance, was all praise of the intrepid Wahab Riaz for riling up the spirits of Shane Watson in the quarter-finals and expressed his wish to reprise the same against India in the semi-finals, “'I heard Davey say he wasn't going to get involved in all that stuff. Someone's got to do it, and I think I might put my hand up.”
Former Australian giant Mathew Hayden too, for his part, belittled the size of the New Zealand cricket grounds and claimed that the MCG was too big for the Kiwis to survive in the World Cup final. This was enough for New Zealanders to throw eggs at him with the hashtag #MCGsobig.
The rough tonguing didn’t stop even after the Australians laid their hands on the silverware on Sunday. Brad Haddin, on a radio talk show, revealed that he was uncomfortable with New Zealand players being nice to his team and wanted to pay it back by sending off the Kiwi batsmen during the World Cup final. As soon as this reached the ears of the public, people took no time to turn Haddin into a laughing stock.
#3 Bangladesh
This South Asian cricket team have come a long way shedding their underdogs tag and have proven in more instances than one that they are a qualified competitor for any prominent team. They beat India in the 2007 World Cup virtually knocking them out of the tournament. They outdid England at Chittagong, their home turf, in the 2011 edition and gradually ensured a rise through the ranks of bigger opponents.
They pulled out a surprise in the 2015 World Cup too by beating England, showing the former World Cup finalists the exit door. This victory gave the Bangladesh team a license to enter the quarter-final stage of the coveted tournament. They were set to face their sub-continent neighbours India in the quarter-finals.
This overwhelmed the fans back home and set the entire nation in a jubilant mode as it was Bangladesh’s maiden appearance in the knockout phase of a World Cup. Unable to hold their enthusiasm, Bangladesh fans sent out warning signals to the Indian team, some prophesying a repeat in history while others rubbing the Indian fans the wrong way.
Fans of both teams fought an online battle exchanging squabbles even before the actual war began on the field. As the game progressed, Rohit Sharma got a life from a misjudged no-ball decision which further aggravated the Bangladesh fans as he later went on to register a hundred.
It was apparent that the Bangladesh side failed to put up a fight in the match and lost the battle by a mile yet their fans refused to come to grips with the defeat as they passed the buck on the umpiring decision. Indian fans, taking victory as an opportunity, fired flak on their counterparts by booing them openly on social media.
#2 Pakistan
Of all the teams that play the game, the Pakistan cricket team has the notoriety for frequenting the news, but mostly for all the wrong reasons. In this World Cup too they managed to stir up enough stories to keep the ticker moving.
They faced their arch-rivals, India, in their opening match, which happened to be the most watched cricket match. Unfortunately though, Pakistan could not break their World Cup jinx against India.
Known for their poor workmanship on the field from time immemorial, Pakistan players were constantly part of the social media race, as several posts and tweets were floating around mocking at their poor fielding. Horrid still, chief selector Moin Khan was sent back home after being accused of gambling away at a casino in Christchurch on the eve of the match against West Indies, which Pakistan went on to lose by 150 runs.
Unlucky as it may be told, they were pitted against Australia in the quarter-finals and pulling off a win against the numero uno side in ODIs required a champion performance.
A fiery bowling spell from Wahab Riaz to help defend a mediocre target against the Aussies went in vain as the misery on the field came back to haunt them. Their fielders dropped two crucial catches, one notably by Rahat Ali in the deep, which sent them out of the tournament altogether.
Former players like Shoaib Akhtar raised hell after a dismal exit by the team. The public did not take kindly to this either and took to social media platforms to vent out their frustration in the form of humour.
#1 England
They may be the founding fathers of the gentleman’s game, but that piece of fact wasn’t worth much as the English cricket team became the most targeted stooges during this World Cup.
Their campaign was far from being pretentious as they lost their very first fixture against the hosts Australia. In a short while, they travelled to New Zealand, another co-host, only to get drubbed to a new low. To make things worse, they were finally crippled by a lowly-ranked Bangladesh side in a do-or-die contest at Adelaide Oval which Bangladesh won by a margin of 15 runs.
England have never been a great one-day side and have no World Cup trophy in their cupboard notwithstanding the fact that they have made it to finals thrice in eleven editions. That said, this early flight home in a World Cup will be regarded as their lowest of lows as they failed to win even a single match against any Test playing nation, despite being one.
Such melodramatic defeats invited wrath from all parts of the globe and not just from home.
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