Cricket means so much more than just a game in India and Pakistan, we bleed cricket, we breathe cricket! And both the countries have given us phenomenal players over the years that have a great fan following on both sides of the border.
Recently, a man wearing a Pakistani jersey with Virat (Kohli) written on it went viral on Twitter!
THE BEST PHOTO OF #CWC19: Virat somewhere in #Lahore pic.twitter.com/gXy3lDN8PH
— Shiraz Hassan (@ShirazHassan) June 9, 2019
As soon as the picture went viral, comments started rolling in from both sides of the border. And surprisingly the comments were full of love and support rather than hate:
True champion will always be appreciated all around the world..👏 👏 Going to fast also. Probably end up in oval 😁 😁
— Amir Hussain (@Iam_amir86) June 9, 2019
All for constructive criticism:
There used to be many Indians who were fan's of Pakistan bowlers like Shoaib Akhtar, Wasim Akram etc but lately Pakistan cricket hasn't been able to produce such cricketer's.
— Frodo🦉 (@fortheorlingas_) June 9, 2019
He does, rightly so!
https://twitter.com/precioussssgirl/status/1137705458377080832?s=19
Yaaaas, we love cricket!
@imVkohli this is love for u from Pakistan. Doesn't matter u are from india or some other part of the world, we love cricket
— Zohaib qureshi (@Zohaib124) June 10, 2019
People immediaely started comparing this to the incident where a fan wearing Afridi’s jersey was arrested in India
Indian fan jailed for wearing Afridi shirt wants to meet star all-rounder
People started questioning
We keep are grounds separate, I think this can only be happened in Pakistan as we are more tolerant society than indians, while in india minorities are being killed or victimised unnecessarily.. @adeel_azhar @Khalistan2020 @Khalistanpost
— Qazi Sheeraz Ul Haq (@SheerazQazi) June 9, 2019
https://twitter.com/Low_Key61/status/1137666676542099456?s=19
And Indians themselves drew a picture of what could have happened had the incident taken place in India:
https://twitter.com/iJasOberoi/status/1137718810901766144?s=19
https://twitter.com/Adi_dil_khan/status/1137745645383630848?s=19
We do!
Rest assured he won't get #lynched in Pakistan … we respect talent beyond geograpghies
— Ahsan Shafiq (@Ahsan_Shafiq) June 9, 2019
If only…
https://twitter.com/xephyrmania/status/1137726325664505856?s=19
Indeed!
https://twitter.com/sandesh_26/status/1137683747107672069?s=19
But the tweet made sure a lot of people shared their love for cricketers of the opposing team on both sides of the border
https://twitter.com/___singh/status/1137666819886526465?s=19
People from India couldn’t stop praising the team:
https://twitter.com/hemang25shah/status/1137734824947400704?s=19
So many fans from India!
Wasim Akram has been my favourite bowler for all time. Sports heroes transcend boundaries for sure.
— Y R Sunil Kumar (@R_S_Kumar) June 9, 2019
Legends for a reason!
https://twitter.com/devilsidx/status/1137740948199264256?s=19
People even wished well to Imran Khan as a PM:
So was @ImranKhanPTI the cricketer . Wish his politics was like that of a true sportsman
— Anil Girotra (@anilgirotra25) June 10, 2019
These are the tweets that we live for!
https://twitter.com/mindtwister242/status/1137931438945447936?s=19
Yaaaas? Yaaaas!
Many cricket fans in India just like me are huge fans of lots of pak legends like shoaib akhtar, younis khan, yousuf, misbah, waqar, wasim.. In this team malik, wahab and Amir.. Illogical fans will be there on both side..
— deepak ranjan (@deep157) June 9, 2019
Even Pakistanis expressed their love for Indian players:
Virat is the greatest especially his fighting spirit. Wish we had someone like him in Pakistan
— Amir Altaf (@AmirAltaf5) June 9, 2019
There is many lover of Indian players… I miss @sachin_rt too
— Shahid Ur Rahman (@sur656) June 9, 2019
Virat Kohli is a great cricketer. Sports should be above out political differences. I have always been a fan of Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Srikkanth, Dravid, Yuvraj etc. Cricket is a sport.
— Voice of R 🇵🇰 (@ActivistFirst01) June 9, 2019
There was love for Amir and Wahab too!
Similarly we love Amir and Wahab Riaz.
Love from India. 🔥
— Shuvayan Dasgupta (@ShuvayanDasGupt) June 9, 2019
A spell that’ll be remembered for decades!
From an Indian fanboy — Don't remember a more passionate spell in recent times than the one from Wahab to Watson. As a fellow desi, felt really good and proud to see him giving a fitting response to an arrogant Aussie!
— Sanjay Khan Nagra (@SanjayKhanNagra) June 9, 2019
Agreed!
No doubt @imVkohli is very good & skilful batsman.
More appreciation for u Mr. @imVkohli— Shaheen (@Shaheen11_22) June 9, 2019
Love has no boundaries!
Cricket , art, music, fun have no boundary
Just chill indian bro
Guly guly me apko virat our dhoni k fan mulen gI am biggest fan of @imVkohli & @msd7official
Love from Pakistan— Anwer Ismail Rahimoo (@anwarismail72) June 9, 2019
Ummm, no.
https://twitter.com/hasin_ahmed/status/1137687978363432961?s=19
Absolutely!
https://twitter.com/Fireball12fdm/status/1137816116305305600?s=19
India ki baat ho aur chai ka zikr na ho? Not possible :p
چائے پینے آیا ہے کیا… ؟؟
— Sahibzada Jawad Nizami (@SJawadNizami) June 9, 2019
One of the tweeps expressed how partition should never have taken place:
Partition was wrong in every way.
Few men sitting in a room decided the fate of millions. It resulted in the biggest genocide of mankind. The blood of those innocent lives is on hands of those so called policy makers. But now the divide is too much to fill.— Sahil Dogra (@SahilDogra1) June 9, 2019
A lot more than you think!
How popular are @msdhoni and @imVkohli in Pakistan?
— Shreyansh Nanda (@shreyansh_1997) June 9, 2019
Only yesterday Virat Kohli won over a lot of fans globally after he asked the Indian crowd to applaud Steve Smith instead of giving him a hard time by calling him a cheater. The gesture was loved by thousands of people around the world, who are Virat fans now, including us!
With India fans giving Steve Smith a tough time fielding in the deep, @imVkohli suggested they applaud the Australian instead.
Absolute class 👏 #SpiritOfCricket #ViratKohli pic.twitter.com/mmkLoedxjr
— ICC (@ICC) June 9, 2019
Virat Kohli on why he asked crowd to stop chanting at Steve Smith.
“He didn’t do anything to be booed. With so many Indians in the crowd I didn’t want them to set a bad example. I asked sorry to him on behalf of the crowd"
Respect! Indian captain 💙
— Broken Cricket (@BrokenCricket) June 9, 2019
Virat Kohli is not only a great cricketer he is also a great human. Respect for King Kohli. 👏 https://t.co/xWd9wWJ1w4
— Mazher Arshad (@MazherArshad) June 9, 2019
Like someone said, cricket has no religion and art has no boundaries, we stan the love both countries share for these amazing cricketers! What cricketer is your favorite? Let us know in the comments below!