India vice-captain recently ended up having a ‘Jofra Archer’ moment on Twitter. Well…almost did. The hard-hitting opener recently went viral on social media when one of his tweets from 2011 mirrored the Indian test team’s disappointing performance in the Adelaide test match.
Playing their first overseas day-night test, the Virat Kohli-led India side had a horror run in the third-innings against their Australian hosts. The team started day-3 at 9/1, comfortably posied with a 62-run lead. But, following a spicy-demolition from Pat Cummins (4/21) and Josh Hazlewood (5/8), and a less than impressive batting display; they had to walk back to the pavilion with a total of 36/9. Last man Mohammed Shami copped a nasty bouncer on his arm and had to retire hurt himself. But while his injury saved some slight all-out blushes, the team still had to bear the humiliation of being bundled out for their lowest total in the history of test cricket.
Wisden takes a hilarious dig at Rohit Sharma’s 9-year-old tweet
Naturally, the performance attracted a wholesale amount of jokes, memes, and trolls on social media. But while the likes of Virender Sehwag and Tino best were busy decoding OTPs and jersey numbers; Wisden India found an apt metaphor to poke fun at.
Referring to a tweet Rohit posted in 2011- ironically, about Australia- Wisden joked about the Hitman’s 9-year-clairvoyance. “Even Rohit Sharma couldn’t have predicted this”, they captioned their post.
Nov 2011 ? Dec 2020
Even Rohit Sharma wouldn't have predicted this ?#AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/q00ZyD7NoM
— Wisden India (@WisdenIndia) December 21, 2020
For context, Rohit, back in 2011, was referring to the Australian batting collapse in Australia’s second test match against South Africa at Cape Town. An exceptional quick-bowling display from Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander had reduced them to 21/8. Eventually, they managed to finish at 47 all-out; still 11-runs more than what India could manage in their innings.
Looks like aussies are creating a new record at Newlands..AUS 21-8 their lowest total is 36..
— Rohit Sharma (@ImRo45) November 10, 2011
The Indian team is in big need of redeeming itself after the Adelaide horror show. They will play their second game at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Boxing Day but already have several factors working against them. Test regulars Shami and captain Kohli will be missing from action; leaving vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane in-charge. Additionally, Australian batting-mainstay David Warner will be back in the hosts’ line-up. The team urgently needs to regroup and get its winning mentality back on mind.