With the plethora of cricketing legends witnessed over the past couple of decades, enthusiasts can’t help but imagine what it would be like when stars from the past face off against the modern greats.
Keeping the vision in mind, ESPNcricinfo shared an interactive post through its social media handling starring six marquee clashes. The famous cricket portal asked its followers to pick one out of those clashes.
Imagine these 20 players at their prime. You can only pick one contest to watch 🤜🤛 pic.twitter.com/8CzQLHYPMv
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) May 11, 2020
One of them was a face-off between Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar and Australian batting mainstay, Steve Smith.
Interestingly, Shoaib retweeted the post with a tongue-in-cheek comment, regarding him dismissing Smith after bowling a barrage of bouncers.
“Even today, three hurting bouncers and I can dismiss Steve Smith on the fourth ball. Lol,” commented Akhtar.
To which, ICC’s Twitter handle took a subtle dig with a popular Michael Jordan meme. These memes have already done quite a number of rounds all over social media.
— ICC (@ICC) May 12, 2020
In recent years, Smith made life difficult for bowlers with his unconventional yet effective techniques. His numbers in red-ball cricket are nothing less than ‘Bradmanesque’. As good as Akhtar was with the ball in the by-gone era, Shoaib’s claims might be seen as bold.
The other inter-generation clashes featured spin-wizard Muttiah Muralitharan facing off against New Zealand captain Kane Williamson and former Aussie captain Ricky Ponting locking horns with England pace sensation Jofra Archer.
Others include ‘Master Blaster’ Sachin Tendulkar, up against the ‘genius’ Rashid Khan, ‘Mr. 360’ AB de Villiers facing ‘Sultan of Swing’ Wasim Akram, and finally, West Indian batting Mozart Brian Lara, facing Neil Wagner.
In the absence of cricketing action, players’ presence on social media and the internet has observed a boom.
Stars have engaged in conversation with others, delving into the past, amid global lockdown due to COVID-19 pandemic.
