The game of cricket can often be cruel for the players on the field as well as for fans of it. When the contest between the two teams is fierce and challenging then the stakes are further increased. Something similar was noticed post-India’s disastrous loss to Pakistan in the ICC T20 World Cup. Fans and cricket fanatics of both countries were up in arms against each other.
Shoaib Akhtar taunted Bhajji about getting a walkover and mocked him about who needed a walkover now. Waqar Younis made crude comments about how he enjoyed watching namaz celebrations being done in front of millions of Hindus. However, what took the cake was Bhajji and Mohamad Amir’s ugly Twitter feud which has now transcended the basic limits of civility and decorum. It is genuinely disheartening to see politics, petty confrontation and religion dividing millions of cricket lovers of the two neighbors.
It all started after the end of the match when Amir tagged Bhajji on a tweet and asked him whether he had broken his television or not as an effect of India losing. This initial tweet was within the boundaries of banter and he mentioned how it was just a game of cricket and things like this happen. However, Bhajji did not seem to take this well and responded with a great degree of aggression. He shared a video of his match-winning six off the bowling of Mohammad Amir during 2010 Asia Cup and hilariously asked, “Yeh 6 ki landing tumhare ghar k tv par to nahi hui thi ??” (this 6 landed on the television in your house, didn’t it?)
Fixer ko sixer.. out of the park @iamamirofficial chal daffa ho ja pic.twitter.com/UiUp8cAc0g
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) October 26, 2021
Till this point, it was nothing disrespectful or unparliamentary. However, Amir responded with a rather instigating tweet. He mocked Bhajji by posting a video of Shahid Afridi smacking Bhajji for 4 back to back sixes.
He further commented that this could be passable in limited-overs cricket but to be smashed this way in tests is unbelievable. This completely infuriated Bhajji and he lost his temperament. He replied by taunting Amir about his fixing scandal. He asked Amir about the 2010 Lord’s infamous test where Amir accepted money to fix the game and bowl a no-ball. He went on to accuse him of being a cheat and disgracing the game by selling himself off for money. He said that his acts brought shame and scorn to the game of cricket which the others had worked so hard to establish and build.
It did not end here as Amir also came back with a stern reply. He accused him of raising his past in the face of India’s loss. He tweeted, “Bare hi dheet ho talking about my past wouldn’t change the fact that tumko 3 din pehle moun ki khani pari. and how about your illegal bowling action mate ab nikal or humko WC win karta dekh. walk over tu nhi mila jao Park me walk karo u’ll feel better.” (My past will not change the fact that Pakistan beat India three days back and what about your illegal action. Now get out of here and watch us win the cup.)
Harbhajan came with the final blow where he responded to Amir’s tweet with a video of himself hitting a final ball six on Amir’s bowling to win the game for India. He captioned it with a “Fixer ko Sixer.” This was a strong blow to the long saga and was a clap-worthy response. It is hoped that the tensions cool down between the two former cricketers and fans of the two countries and good cricket prevails.
