India vs New Zealand: Disappointed fans come up with hilarious memes on Shardul Thakur after 1st ODI loss
After a 5-0 win in the Twenty20 International (T20I) series against New Zealand, the Indian side kick-started the 50-over series with a loss on Wednesday.
Despite having 347 runs on the board, the Indians ended up losing the first ODI of the three-game series by four wickets in Hamilton's Seddon Park. While Shreyas Iyer's maiden ODI ton went in vain, BlackCaps' senior batsman Ross Taylor remained unbeaten on 109 runs from 84 balls. He smashed 10 boundaries and four sixes en route his 21st ODI century.
New Zealand needed 14 runs off the final three overs and that's when Shardul Thakur returned to the attack. The medium-pacer was already having a bad day as he had leaked as many as 68 runs in his eight overs bowled. Taylor took a single and gave the strike to the new batsman in Mitchell Santner. The all-rounder smashed Thakur for a six before he went for a boundary a ball later. The hosts levelled the scores on the final ball of Thakur's over before Taylor sealed the victory for New Zealand on the first ball of the following over, which was bowled by Mohammed Shami.
Thakur ended with poor figures of 80 for 1 in nine overs. It was not just him; the others also did not bowl to their potential. Only Jasprit Bumrah's economy was below six but he failed to make any dismissal.
However, the Indian fans chose to go after Thakur on social media as they came up with hilarious memes after India's loss on Wednesday.
Shardul Thakur to every Newzeland batsman today.#NZvIND #INDvNZ pic.twitter.com/GwPNHgMA1n
— Harshvardhan Agrawal (@Harsh_humour) February 5, 2020
After today's match
— Shlok (@Shlok__13) February 5, 2020
Kohli be like
#INDvNZ pic.twitter.com/dRoqQXAHxB
India's batting today
— Mukund (@M_day_dreamer) February 5, 2020
India's bowling today #NZvsIND pic.twitter.com/pSS0qOoF7g
Shardul Thakur after being hit 22 runs in an over by Ross Taylor. #NZvsIND #NzvInd pic.twitter.com/McCsixKBKN
— Waseem Akbar (@WaseemA75747647) February 5, 2020
Rumor is that @imShard will be offered the position of Vice president in the prestigious Ashok Dinda Academy. The award will be presented by the one and only @ashok_dinda. #IndiaVSNewZEaland #INDvsNZ #NZvIND #NZvsIND #shardulthakur
— saksham gupta (@saksh1998_gupta) February 5, 2020
Shardul Thakur recieving Lifetime achievement award for his consistent performance for our Academy today he gave overs 89 runs in his 9 hours.
— Hg Abhishek (@HgAbhi) February 5, 2020
More to go and keep doing the best...#NZvIND #Kuldeepyadav pic.twitter.com/plt3nt4x1j
Indian Fielding #NZvsIND pic.twitter.com/svqYj9MuZ5
— Steven Gardner ⚽ (@deepwebdesign) February 5, 2020
While the Indian bowlers were disappointing, the Indian fans thought Kohli would next ask KL Rahul to bowl. The wicketkeeper-batsman has been in the good books of the fans after he has readily batted at multiple positions, kept wickets and also led the side in the absence of Kohli and Rohit.
KL Rahul Aajkal :-
— Ooltah Chashmah 🇮🇳 (@ribu_baby) February 5, 2020
Batting kar leta hai..
1 down ho ke 3 down ho ke 5 down kar leta hai..
Keeping kar leta hai..
Captaincy kar leta hai..
Bas bowling baki hai..
Aaj ke match Mein bowlers phuss ho gaye..
Wish KL rahul bowling bhi kar leta.. 🤣 #NZvIND #KLRahul #INDvNZ
Meanwhile KL Rahul to Virat Kohli - Saale bowling karne ke liye mat bolna muzhe
— VeeR GarG🇮🇳 (@veergarg) February 5, 2020
#NZvIND #INDvNZ Shardul Thakur🤑 pic.twitter.com/scCAeqEdR5
#NZvsIND
— Insulter (@Insulter3730010) February 5, 2020
KL Rahul signalling wide before umpire
Umpire be like * pic.twitter.com/op6G6jVdLV
After losing the five-match t20I series 5-0 to India, the ODI win on Wednesday has come as a massive booster for New Zealand, who are already without a few key players due to injuries including their captain Kane Williamson. The second ODI of the three-match series will be played on Saturday at Eden Park, Auckland.