What They Said About

The World Cup on social media

Jofra Archer: gun fast bowler, master foreteller  •  Getty Images

Jofra Archer: gun fast bowler, master foreteller  •  Getty Images

Remember when the World Cup started? It feels like a long while ago, when most of the cricketing world was wondering about when the first 500-plus ODI score would be made, Virat Kohli was peering into his crystal ball and declaring 250 would be hard enough to chase, and Sir Viv Richards was smashing it to all parts of the Mall in central London during the opening ceremony.
Here's the story of a long, memorable tournament, told through the eyes of social media.
May 29
May 31
While every other expert was predicting semi-finalists and winners, Brendon McCullum went many steps further and put out his results for every game of the league phase. He even predicted the impact rain would have on the tournament.
The other Pakistan turned up for their first game against West Indies, for a good reason, as we found out soon enough.
June 1
Ben Stokes and Co finished eighth in the Under-19 World Cup eight years ago. How far could they go this time, at home?
June 2
These two were welcomed by fans dressed as sandpaper sheets in Bristol.
June 3
England were favourites, and they hadn't lost chasing at home for 20 successive games, but none of that mattered, because they were facing the other Pakistan.
June 4
In one of the lines of the tournament, Pakistan bowling coach Azhar Mahmood had said, "England have to play 300 balls to get to that record, but we have to bowl ten good balls to get ten wickets." Turns out he was off by a ball.
June 9
Twitter superstar Jimmy Neesham turned it on with the ball, picking up his first five-wicket haul in international cricket. The self-deprecation that followed was just as good.
June 10
A high-profile retirement came early in the tournament, just as India were finding their range in a World Cup.
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June 14
Everyone said it at the start of the World Cup, but Michael Vaughan served a mid-tournament reminder, in case you'd missed it.
As many as four games were washed out in the space of a week, one of them being the New Zealand-India encounter. Neesham's gesture to disappointed fans at Trent Bridge came in for praise on social media, before...
June 15
The memes were out in full force. Maybe rain had dropped the World Cup?
India-Pakistan was just around the corner. Not everyone had to pick one side, as Chris Gayle reminded us.
June 16
India v Pakistan at Old Trafford wasn't entirely one-sided, but it wasn't quite a treat either. Try telling that to the press pack, though.
While Indian fans were in overdrive, revelling in the victory over their neighbours, Stokes left a note to everyone reminding them he was getting bored.
Three centuries from Rohit Sharma and the recently retired Yuvraj Singh was predicting that his former India and Mumbai Indians team-mate would go all the way, just like he himself had done in 2011.
June 17
Rohit sent a square-cut six flying into the stands. You knew the throwbacks were coming.
His press conference performances were even better. It all started here.
Old Trafford cricket ground, Theatre of Dreams. Who knew?
Meanwhile, Bangladesh were motoring along, carried largely by one man's sustained excellence.
June 18
Pakistan were smarting after another World Cup defeat to India. Their fans weren't sparing them and players took to social media appealing for calm.
June 19
India's injury scare turned out to be a tournament-ending one. Shikhar Dhawan was on his way home.
Not all great Jofra Archer tweets are from his archives. There was some refreshing candour from him through this tournament as well.
June 22
As the league phase was in danger of turning into a dead-rubber-filled snoozefest, Sri Lanka woke everyone up with a shocking win.
June 23
Carlos Brathwaite, remember the name? Ben Stokes sure does. In case you didn't, he served another reminder.
But when West Indies fell agonisingly short of winning against New Zealand, it was Brathwaite who had to be consoled.
June 27
Pakistan were back in business and making a late surge for the qualifying spots. Remember when it last happened?
June 28
England were on the mat after two successive defeats, to Sri Lanka and Australia, and Jonny Bairstow laid into his "critics". Fellow Yorkshireman Vaughan wasn't having any of it.
June 29
There were plenty of great catches at this World Cup, but it didn't get better than a full-blooded Steven Smith pull caught at leg gully, and certified by one of the greatest modern-day close-catchers.
By this point, the 1992 parallels were getting more uncanny by the day.
South Africa's tournament had few silver linings. Imran Tahir's performance in his final ODI tournament was one of them.
June 30
With one injury after another, some former players wondered if something was afoot in the Indian camp.
July 1
The runs were flowing for David Warner and there was some happy news for him on the personal front too. Newlands seemed a long time ago.
July 2
Up in Durham, there was a surprise visitor for West Indies' game against Sri Lanka.
TV broadcasters spotted 87-year-old Charulata Patel blowing a horn and rooting for India during their game against Bangladesh. Soon enough, she became an internet sensation.
July 3
There were only eight league games in the 1992 World Cup. By the time the ninth game came along in this World Cup, Pakistan were in uncharted waters, having left themselves with too much to do.
July 5
Their campaign was over, and so was one of the last surviving international careers from the 20th century.
July 6
Master and protege reunited, less than two months after teaming up to win the IPL.
July 7
Bangladesh's campaign that had promised so much ended up with an unflattering position on the points table.
July 11
India bowed out of the World Cup, but not before Ravindra Jadeja had played one the finest knocks in a World Cup semi-final.
In the black corner, the victors were marching on, on and on to Lord's.
Arguably the most memorable New Zealand performance on the day came from the commentary box, from Ian Smith.
Is this the end for MS Dhoni? We don't know, but Adam Gilchrist dropped a thank you note in advance.
Only three teams were left in the competition, and pre-match nervousness gave way to full-blown schadenfreude for England fans. Australia's barefoot-walking routine was an unfortunate victim.
July 12
The AB de Villiers saga wasn't going away anytime soon.
July 13
The stories of elderly Indian fans enjoying the game were among the most heartwarming of the tournament.
July 14
An epic Wimbledon final. A World Cup final for the ages. It was a day to remember for sports fans.
Of course, a Jofra tweet had called the ending.
July 15
New Zealand didn't lose the final, didn't lose the Super Over, but went home without a trophy yet again.
Naturally, there were contrasting emotions from both sides.