A vintage Virat Kohli innings powered India to a thrilling victory over its arch-rivals, Pakistan, immersing India into a festive mood on the eve of Diwali. Pakistani fans were predictably disappointed by the loss after Kohli and company racked up a nail-biting victory from the jaws of defeat, with many making unsubstantiated allegations and weaving fiction to rationalise their loss.
One such Pakistani fan went to the extent of pulling off a ‘The Wire’, a far-leftist publication recently in the news for its Meta fiasco where it had made preposterous allegations against the social media behemoth based on ‘verification’ from independent researchers, who later denied claims and forced The Wire to retract its stories.
A Pakistani fan attributed a fake quote to British cricketer Nasser Hussain to raise aspersions on India’s win over Pakistan. “The umpire made some weird decision in favour of India today, but maybe we should keep quiet and not upset ICC and BCCI,” a Pakistani fan who went by Twitter account @ahadfooty claimed that former British cricketer-turned-commentator Nasser Hussain said it.
As retweets mounted and deluded Pakistani fans vented out their frustration on the loss, Nasser promptly clarified, saying that he had not issued the said quote and it was a fake quote and fake news.
Calling out the Pakistani fan’s attempt to sully India’s win, Nasser said, “Probably best if you can delete this please .. it’s fake news and a fake quote and definitely not what a great game of cricket like today’s deserves !! Thanks.”
However, Nasser’s explicit denial did little to knock sense to the Pakistani fan who had ascribed a fake quote to the British commentator. After being called out for an imaginary quote, the Pakistani fan requested Nasser Hussain to admit what he had wrongly quoted him for. “Nasser, you know what happened today wasn’t fair. Just say it, please. It’s ok, we’re with you,” he replied.
With many Twitter users slamming the Pakistani fan for conjuring up a fake quote about Nasser Hussain, the social media user quietly turned his Twitter account private.
Kohli powers India’s victory in an edge-of-a-seat thriller
The Pakistani fan’s attempt to attribute the fake quote to Nasser Hussain came in the wake of an edge-of-a-seat thriller between India and Pakistan that resulted in the former’s victory, thanks to the heroics of Virat Kohli, one of the best batsmen in the world.
King Kohli, as his fans affectionately call him, was in sublime form as he blunted the fearsome Pakistani bowling attack, taking India beyond the victory line, which at one point seemed all but impossible. With 48 runs to be scored in the last three overs, many had written off an Indian victory, but not Kohli and his partner, Hardik Pandya, had other plans up their sleeves.
Kohli’s back-to-back sixes to Pakistan’s chief bowler Haris Rauf nearly sealed the game for India. With India needing just 16 off the last over against a left-arm spinner, Hardik and Virat fancied their chances of getting the result in their favour.
But then, Hardik got out of the first delivery, swinging the ever-shifting pendulum in Pakistan’s favour. Dinesh Karthik or DK as he is popularly known, walked off on the pitch to get India home. But it was Kohli’s night as he heaved a massive six of a no-ball to bring the match back into India’s grasp. But the thrill did not end there. With DK getting run out, the equation was down to 2 runs in 1 ball.
Ravichandran Ashwin came in next. An astute cricketer, Ashwin dug deep inside the crease and waited for the bowler to commit a mistake. Nawaz, the Pakistani bowler, played a gamble by firing the bowl on the leg side. But Ashwin went inside the line of the ball and allowed it to travel to Mohammed Rizwan, the Pakistani wicket-keeper, earning the all-important one run of wide that levelled the scores. On the next ball, Ashwin lofted it above mid-off, taking India home.
