India loses to England and social media erupts with memes, call Indian team “true patriots”

Dubai: India lost to England by 31 runs in yesterday’s World Cup match and social media erupted with questions.

Some tweeps even went as far as to say that the match was fixed.

Why did India lose?

On Twitter #IndiaVsEngland was a top trend and fans used the hashtag to discuss the match and troll #TeamIndia.

@AnwarLodhi tweeted: “If @ICC should investigate one match for fixing, this is the match #IndiaVsEngland at Edgbaston. I don’t say this is for money: this may be a ‘strategic match fixing’ to keep a certain team out of the semi-finals. This type of fixing is also against the spirit of cricket.”

Tweep @AAKASHPUNHANI: “India is key financer of @ICC.... So expecting anything fair from them is just hitting our heads on wall. Pathetic.”

And @ShireenKoul posted a picture of Indian team captain Virat Kohli laughing with other players from the Indian team, with the caption: “First time ever.... losing team is as happy as the Winning Team.”

Some even poked fun at the dark blue and orange dominated Indian team jersey and made political references. Tweep @MyFellowIndians posted: “Saffron: Bad for the country, bad for the Indian Cricket Team.”

Early in the World Cup season, the Pakistan cricket team were criticised for their lack of fitness. There were rumours allegeing that the cricketers were consuming “fastfood”, which resulted in their lack of fitness and tiredness on the field.

After yesterday’s match, a picture of Indian captain Virat Kohli started making rounds wherein he is seen eating a burger, in the dressing room.

Fans made memes about the picture and joked that the reason India underpeformed was because they were eating junk food, like the Pakistan team.

Tweep @manikkewtguy posted: “Really Virat, having burger?”

@grjain tweeted: #INDvENG Virat is eating a burger, King Kohli knows how to tease Pakistan .”

What happened to Dhoni?

While the Indian team’s performance was criticised, fans singled-out player Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his inability to make runs during the match.

Users said that Dhoni “gave away” runs and hinted it was a deliberate attempt to throw the Pakistan team out of the tournament.

Tweep @lakshayrohilla3 posted: “Lt. Colonel MS Dhoni is real patriot, he single-handedly kicked Pakistan out of the world cup #IndiaVsEngand.” He used a picture of Dhoni wearing the Indian Territorial Army unifrom, after he was conferred the honorary rank of Lieutenant Colonel on November 1, 2011.

User @Dhawal_Odedra shared a picture of Dhoni with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and captioned it: “Today, Lt. Colonel Mahendra Singh Dhoni was on his national duty. Please don’t blame him! #indiavsEngland #INDvENG”

Disappointed twitter fan @karanku100 posted: “Dear Dhoni, Today as a fan I’m ashamed and shocked the way you batted in last overs. You didn’t even try. The time has come when you should make a strong decision about your career. You are my idol and will remain forever.... Your die hard fan ....”

Dhoni also faced criticism from former cricket captain Saurav Ganguli, who was “at a loss for words”, during the game.

On air during the match, when asked a question by former cricketer Nasser Hussain about the performance of Dhoni and the team, Ganguly said: “I don’t have an explanation for that .... I can’t explain these singles. It’s also the length and the bounce that has deceived the Indian batsmen. You can’t be chasing 338 and still have 5 wickets in the end. It’s about mind-set and the way you look at the game. The message had to be clear: no matter where it comes and no matter where the ball lands you have to find the boundary....”

According to reports online, Ganguly told a presenter from broadcaster Star Sports that “intent” was lacking from the Indian players.

He said: “The first 10 overs and the last 6 overs left a lot to be desired. Hopefully they will go back and reflect because they have been in excellent form this World Cup.

“The intent was not good enough. I would have been [happier] if India were 300 all-out. This situation can happen again and they will have to find different ways to succeed in the first and last 10 overs.”

Many users agreed with Ganguly and quoted him online.

Pakistani fans disappointed

In a rare turn of events, Pakistani fans were rooting for team India in yesterday’s match, as their win would allow Pakistan to stay in the tournament.

Many fans had placed their hopes on Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Dhoni, but were ultimately washed away by India’s poor performance.

Tweep @navneet_mundhra compared Dhoni’s performance to that of Pakistani cricketer Misbah Ul Haq’s and said: “Pakistani friends were rooting for Dhoni to do his thing. He, instead, pulled a Misbah on them #CWC19 #indiavsEngland.”

Tweep @junaidsalim posted: “Disappointing cricket from India. Showed no intent to win the match. #indiavsEngland.”

While many other Pakistani fans shared memes and trolled India for “giving away the match to England”.

Online user @DrNabeelChaudry tweeted a picture of the Indian cricket team squad, and compared it to a picture of snakes. He posted the cheeky pictures with the caption: “Find the difference?”

And tweep @wardag21 shared a picture of the Indian team with the caption: “Best actor of the year award goes to #teamIndia.”