The Barmy Army, a fan group of the England cricket team came in for some heavy trolling after they claimed that the Ashes between England and Australia was bigger than the India vs Pakistan rivalry.
This came after two thrilling India-Pakistan matches in the ongoing Asia Cup 2022 tournament which saw India winning the first encounter and Pakistan emerging victorious in the second one which was played on September 4th in Dubai.
Chasing 182 runs to win, Pakistan rode on the contributions from Mohammad Rizwan (71) and Mohammad Nawaz (42), while Asif Ali (16 off 8 balls) provided the late boom to finish. Earlier Virat Kohli had made 60 in 44 balls to steer India to 181/7 in 20 overs after being asked to bat.
While many fans and former cricketers expressed their delight at the thrilling tie between the two sides, England's ‘Barmy Army’, who enjoy a rather love-hate relationship with the Indian fans, managed to rile up fans from both India and Pakistan with just one tweet.
Following the game, the Barmy Army wrote, “Ashes > India vs Pakistan anyway,” a comment that didn't go down well among fans from both countries.
Not only the fans, two Indian cricketers who have played international cricket with distinction managed to one-up the Barmy Army with the respective responses to their claim of Ashes bigger than India v Pakistan.
First was Wasim Jaffer, who is known for his acidic wit. He made a brutal comment at England’s record against Australia in Ashes in recent years and asked the Barmy Army to downplay their rivalry. England had recently lost to England 0-4 down under.
Jaffer wrote, “If I was an England fan, with the Ashes record Eng has, I'd downplay the Ashes if anything #INDvPAK.”
Next came in Amit Mishra, who recently has gained notoriety for his sharp and funny tweets and he responded by posting a collage of Russian Premier Vladimir Putin and former England captain Nasser Hussain with a message reading: “Difference between #IndvsPak & Ashes.”
