The rivalry between India and Pakistan cricket fans is nothing new. 

Earlier, the scores were settled on the field but now that the two countries don’t engage in bi-lateral series anymore, social media platforms are the only battlefield remaining.

Every now and then, we see Indian and Pakistani fans facing off in order to prove the supremacy of their favourite cricketer. In the past, the debate revolved around Sachin Tendulkar and Inzamam-ul-Haq but now, the baton has been passed to the next generation of players -- Virat Kohli and Babar Azam.

© Reuters

Recently, a Pakistani fan tagged Kenya’s National Bank in his tweet and tried to take a dig at the African nation’s bowling using the example of former India skipper Sourav Ganguly, who had taken their bowlers to the cleaners on several occasions, especially during the 2003 World Cup.

The Pak fan, in his tweet, said that when he visited the National Bank the security guard asked him for his fingerprint and mobile number and after he asked about the reason behind this double-layered security, he was told that a man named Ganguly had “committed fraud for years against their fragile bowling”.

© Reuters

However, his move backfired as he was brutally trolled by the admin of the National Bank, who appreciated his humour but at the same time, also gave him a befitting reply.

The admin described Ganguly as a great player and riled the Pakistani fan by rating Indian skipper Kohli above Babar Azam.

© Instagram Babar Azam

Shaken up by the unexpected reply, the Pakistani fan began the damage control and described Kohli as 'Chokli' but found himself in another pothole as the admin of the Nairobi-based bank shut him down with a classic reply.

Here’s the full conversation:

Hi, we appreciate your humour. Ganguly was a great player, Tikolo even better. Oh, and one more thing. Kohli > Babar ^CK

— National Bank 🇰🇪 (@National_Bank) July 13, 2021

Precisely why your book is unheard of. ^CK

— National Bank 🇰🇪 (@National_Bank) July 13, 2021

The conversation which began as a light banter, soon started trending on the micro-blogging site and became a great hit, especially among Indian fans who complimented the sense of humour of the admin.

Despite getting humiliated, the Pakistani fan was happy with how popular the thread became and said he was loving the attention he was getting, proving that there is no such thing as bad publicity.

Zaleel kya famous ho raha
Negative or positive doesn't matter
Islye tweet delete ni ki

— W A Q A R (@dilsypakistan90) July 13, 2021

There have been numerous instances of Indian and Pakistani fans clashing virtually and going all out in support of their respective skippers.

Babar Azam scored 158 runs in the third ODI against England and became the fastest to reach 14 ODI hundreds but Indian fans didn’t let them enjoy their skipper’s achievement and pointed out that nine of those hundreds came against lower-ranked teams like Zimbabwe, the West Indies and Sri Lanka.

Fastest to 14 ODI centuries, by number of innings:

81 - Babar Azam
82 - Meg Lanning
84 - Hashim Amla
98 - David Warner
103 - Virat Kohli pic.twitter.com/4cRlzbOoxZ

— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) July 13, 2021

Kohli, on the other hand, had scored his centuries against the strong-bowling attacks of Australia, New Zealand, England and South Africa.

This and many other incidents prove that there is no end to this ongoing debate and fans, instead of engaging in unnecessary online battles, must learn to enjoy the masterful batting on display.

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