Cricket is one of the most popular sports in the world and it is garnering more and more supporters every year. In the development and promotion of this sport, cricketers have played a vital role. However, it is essentially the fans who breathe life into the game with their passion and humour.
At a time, when memes have become a new way to entertain people, a lot of cricket fans also create humorous content related to this sport and share them on social media sites. It’s witnessed that gigantic cricketing events give rise to memefests on social media wherein fans, as well as players, take part. Throughout the years, some memes have become the default for certain results and are known to every cricket fan.
Talking more, here are 10 viral memes that every cricket fan can relate to.
10. Hum Jeet Gaye when India wins any intriguing game
The Indian cricket team has the largest fan base among all cricket teams in the world. After the maiden 1983 World Cup win under Kapil Dev’s captaincy, a lot of people started taking an interest in cricket. Later, the emergence of Sachin Tendulkar helped India get more supporters.
In the 2000s, India won three International Cricket Council (ICC) trophies under MS Dhoni’s leadership. Following the success during Dhoni’s captaincy, the Team India fans had become habitual to see the Indian team winning titles. On social media sites, whenever India wins any game, a lot of memes are spread to celebrate victory.
However, when India wins any close games, one meme is often seen on social media and that is ‘hum jeet gaye’ (we won). The famous dialogue is from the 2001 blockbuster Bollywood movie Lagaan. In the T20 World Cup 2022, India beat Pakistan in the last-ball thriller, and this famous meme was featured on social media by a lot of Indian team fans.
9. 'Beta tumse naa ho payega' meme from Indian fans when Pakistan loses a big game
The India-Pakistan rivalry is arguably the best contest in cricket. People in both nations are passionate about the sport and when there are matches between both teams, the level of competition reaches the top level. Several times, players from India and Pakistan have revealed what kind of pressure they have to tackle when there are matches between the arch-rivals.
Nowadays, both teams don’t play bilateral series with each other but whenever they lock horns, banters among fans of both teams are plenty. In the 2021 T20 World Cup, when Pakistan tasted their first World Cup victory against India, several Pakistan cricket fans teased Team India supporters.
The next year, Pakistan lost to India and Zimbabwe in the T20 World Cup 2022 and Indian cricket team fans took a dig at Pakistan cricket fans with several memes on social media. Among all memes, one that attracted a lot of eyeballs was ‘beta tumse naa ho payega’ (son, you can’t do it). The meme created from the 2012 Bollywood movie ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’ was used a lot by Indian fans after Pakistan’s humiliating one-run defeat at the hands of Zimbabwe.
8. SRK Kal Ho Naa Ho meme after India loses any knockout games in ICC events
India played aggressive cricket under MS Dhoni’s captaincy from 2007 to 2013 and achieved some massive success in bilateral series and ICC tournaments. In 2007, Dhoni made his captaincy debut in the inaugural edition of the T20 World Cup and got successful in pulling off the title for India.
In 2011, India won One-Day International (ODI) World Cup after 28 years under Dhoni’s captaincy. After two years, the two-time World Cup winners won the 2013 Champions Trophy in England. Since then, India haven’t won any ICC titles. After 2013, the team reached the knockout round several times but failed to bring any trophy home.
Witnessing their team’s consistent failure, Indian cricket fans display their grief through memes and social media posts. Following Afghanistan’s loss to New Zealand in the 2021 T20 World Cup, India got eliminated from the tournament. A lot of Indian fans took to social media platforms to express their grief through memes. Several social media users posted one of the most-watched memes in which Shah Rukh Khan could be seen crying in Kal Ho Naa Ho.
7. Neechey se chack kar Virat meme for RCB fans during the Indian Premier League (IPL)
In the Indian Premier League (IPL), Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) has a huge fan base along with Mumbai Indians (MI) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK). However, MI and CSK are the most successful teams in the league, winning five titles apiece. While RCB are yet to win their maiden title.
RCB have not only earned a lot of fans in the league but also they have accumulated a large number of critics who troll them. However, these critics are termed haters by RCB fans. It’s witnessed that these critics do not hesitate to celebrate the Challengers’ defeat to rile RCB fans.
RCB have struggled to play quality cricket in the last few years which have made them a favourite target for trollers. In the last few IPL seasons, these trollers have tried to use Challengers’ unsuccess to bring down the franchise’s fans. Every season, trollers use the famous "neeche se check kar (check from below)" dialogue from the Bollywood movie 3 Idiots in the form of memes to mock RCB’s situation on the points table.
6. Lagaan run out meme after Ravichandran Ashwin mankads Jos Buttler in the 2019 IPL
In every IPL season, social media platforms get flooded with exciting memes. This memefest makes the league more fun. Many aspects of the game get discussed among fans through memes in a humorous way. Back in the 2019 IPL, the then-Punjab Kings (PBKS) captain Ravichandran Ashwin ran out Jos Buttler at the non-striker's end for taking unfair advantage and this incident grabbed a lot of attention.
Following the incident, a lot of talks happened in the cricketing circle. Along with that, fans of both RR and PBKS teams also had fierce debates with one another. While some England cricket team fans didn’t hesitate to target the India off-spinner for dismissing the RR wicketkeeper batter in a unique style.
However, some Indian fans shared a meme that displayed a Bollywood movie Lagaan scene in which a player from the Indian side was dismissed when taking unfair advantage at the non-striker's end. Sharing the meme, a few Indian cricket fans wrote jokingly that Ashwin took revenge for Tipu’s dismissal in the movie.
5. The Rock and Yuzvendra Chahal meme for the comparison between the Indian cricket team's performance in bilateral series and World Cup
The Indian team's struggles in the knock stages of the ICC tournaments aren’t hidden from any cricket fan. Noting their struggles, Team India supporters do not shy away from making fun of their own team on social media through memes. However, these memes weren’t supposed to hurt the sentiments of anyone but to lighten the mood of fans.
In January 2020, following the closure of India’s three-match ODI series against Australia, Rohit Sharma shared a shirtless picture of India’s leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal and the Rock’s aka Dwayne Johnson’s bare-chested picture on Twitter. Comparing the pictures of both gentlemen, Rohit trolled his teammate.
Comparing the picture of the Indian cricket stalwart’s skinny body and the American actor’s muscled physique, Indian cricket team fans share the image on social media sites to draw a comparison between India’s success in bilateral series and the failure in ICC competitions.
4. 'Oye chuna laga diya' for Indian cricket team fans after India's elimination from the T20 World Cup 2022
Ahead of the 2022 T20 World Cup, an Oreo ad featuring former India captain MS Dhoni became popular among Team India fans. In the popular advertisement, Dhoni was seen addressing a press conference drawing similarities between Oreo’s launch year and India’s World Cup win in 2011.
Dhoni also said in the commercial that there is another World Cup in 2022 so let’s launch Oreo again. After India’s loss against England in the T20 World Cup 2022, some Indian fans took a dig at the cookie company’s Ad and former India wicketkeeper batter with a funny meme.
Sharing an edited image of dialogue from the 2006 Bollywood movie ‘Golmaal’ on social media platforms, Indian cricket fans healed themselves following their team’s embarrassing defeat. Editing the famous dialogue of the movie, ‘oye Dicky chuna laga diya,’ to ‘oye Oreo chuna laga diya,’ many Indian cricket team fans made fun of the Oreo commercial.
3. 'Miracle miracle' for Pakistan cricket team supporters after South Africa's defeat to The Netherlands in the T20 World Cup 2022
In the 2022 World Cup, Pakistan struggled in their first two games, losing to India and Zimbabwe. After the defeat against Zimbabwe, the chances of Pakistan’s elimination from the marquee tournament were high as The Netherlands were required to beat South Africa in their final group game.
The Proteas were playing incredibly in the competition and Pakistan supporters had almost lost their hopes to qualify for the knockouts. However, South Africa lost their important game to the Dutch team at the Adelaide Oval and from here, Pakistan were required to beat Bangladesh to reach the semis.
The Proteas’ hammering at the hands of the Dutch team surprised all cricket fans as they weren’t expecting this turnaround. Taking to social media, several Indian and Pakistani cricket fans shared the meme ‘miracle miracle.’ The funny dialogue is from the 2007 Bollywood movie ‘Welcome.’
2. Jalwa hai humara yahan (the Australian team in ICC tournaments)
The Australian cricket team is the most successful side in the history of cricket. They have bagged five trophies in ODI World Cups. While in the T20I World Cups, they clinched their maiden title in 2021, beating New Zealand in the final at the Dubai International Stadium.
In June 2023, they also pulled off their maiden World Test Championship (WTC) mace, beating India by 209 runs in the final game at the Oval, London. Following the massive defeat, the Indian team went through severe criticism. On the other hand, the Aussies were appreciated for their stunning performance.
Indian fans also commended the Australian team’s unprecedented performance in the game through memes. Sharing the famous dialogue of the Mirzapur series ‘Jalwa Hai Humara Yahan,’ a lot of Indian cricket team fans congratulated the Aussie cricket team for their spectacular performances in the history of ICC events.
1. Disappointed fan from Pakistan vs Australia in the 2019 World Cup
During the 2019 World Cup in England, Pakistan were struggling to play quality cricket. After playing three games in the tournament, the Men in Green were locking horns with the defending champions Australia at the County Ground, Taunton. In the big game against the quality side, the Aussies had a great start.
In the 35th over, David Warner got dropped at his score of 104 by Asif Ali on the deep backward point. The dropped catch disappointed all Pakistani supporters watching the match at the stadium but a fan named Muhammad Sarim Akhtar’s angry reaction caught the eye of the cameraman. During the ongoing game, the Pakistani spectator got famous on social media for his reaction.
Sarim Akhtar’s memes are widely shared on the internet by Asian cricket teams' fans whenever their side disappoints to perform upto the expectations in any game. After Pakistan’s defeat against Zimbabwe in the T20 World Cup 2022, Akhtar’s meme was shared by Pakistani fans to express disappointment.
CricTracker Desk
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