Sarfaraz Ahmed, the ex-captain of Pakistan, has spoken out for the first time about his widely circulated comment “My answer also same, nothing different” which he made in response to Virat Kohli during the 2019 World Cup. This incident had caused a sensation on social media and the phrase is still commonly used as a meme.
Before the quadrennial event, there was a captain’s meeting in which both Sarfaraz and the then-Indian captain, Kohli, were questioned about the excitement surrounding an India-Pakistan match. Kohli provided a detailed answer, explaining how players deal with the anticipation. In contrast, Sarfaraz responded with a single line, which became a memorable statement.
Sarfaraz Ahmed on the incident with Virat Kohli
“Look India vs Pakistan is always a very anticipated match but we keep saying this again and again that if you ask the players, it’s very different to how the fans look at the game. Yes, you feel the anticipation and excitement of the players as soon as you enter the stadium but the moment you step on to the field, it’s professional. A bowler trying to execute his skills, the batsman trying to execute his to the best of his potential. For us it’s just another game that you need to win as a team. Yes it brings pressure because the atmosphere in the stadium is very different. And as I said, you only experience that till the time you start competing in the game. But as soon as you get in there, at the end of the day, it’s a game of cricket for all of us. That’s the truth, that’s what the cricketers from both sides feel,” Kohli had said.
Sarfaraz remembered the incident and mentioned that Kohli gave an extensive response, and he was waiting for Kohli to finish and was also curious about who would translate it.
“When we asked about the hype surrounding an India vs Pakistan match and how we react when people ask us for tickets, I said you can ask Virat first. I told him brother, why don’t you answer first? And Virat just started and went on. The PC was in England. I looked at him and was like ‘Bhai kab rukega? (When will he stop?’). He kept using long words in English and all I could think of at that moment was ‘Who is going to translate all of this?’. I kept listening and said ‘Same answer’. I thought this is a simple question but Virat gave such a long answer,” Sarfaraz said.
During the same World Cup, Sarfaraz became the subject of another viral meme when he was caught yawning on the field. In the India-Pakistan match during the tournament, Rohit Sharma scored a century while KL Rahul and Virat Kohli both scored half-centuries, and India went on to defeat Pakistan by a significant margin of 89 runs.
