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The Buzz

The Buzz: The Kohli tweet that made everyone think Dhoni was retiring

All the bantz, the jousts, and little bit of eavesdropping from the social media playground and beyond

Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni reach the team hotel in London  •  Associated Press

Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni reach the team hotel in London  •  Associated Press

All the world's cricketers walked into a bar. The LOLs, the chatter, and the occasional mini-brawls, they were endless. And the news cycle was never the same again! Welcome to ESPNcricinfo's Social Buzz, your go-to destination for all the bantz, the jousts, and little bit of eavesdropping from the social media playground and beyond.
September 12
So one fine day, for some odd reason, Virat Kohli posted this.
It had all the elements of a tribute - only a proper occasion was missing. It wasn't the anniversary of that game. It wasn't MSD's birthday. It wasn't like he had announced his retire… Oh wait…
For several hours, India went into panic mode, news agencies braced for the busiest day of their lives, Dhoni trended at No. 1 in the country and then… poof. There was nothing. Nothing until Dhoni's better half put out her first tweet since April

Monty Panesar for mayor of London

September 11
Vote for Mayor Monty! Former England offspinner Monty Panesar has said he'd like to become the mayor of London once the incumbent Sadiq Khan's term is done. "I live in London and I thought it was of interest maybe, Would you vote for me if I ran," Panesar asked Love Sport Radio.
Panesar isn't giving up his cricket career just yet. "I have ambitions to play cricket again and this winter I'm going to train really hard and get myself fit and hopefully get into a first-class county. But I live in London and I was thinking this could be a gradual transition going into politics and mayor of London could be a fantastic opportunity.
"I would love to see cricket played in all primary and secondary schools, but in terms of what's happening in London I think I'd definitely help people. It's about what people want. I'd be more interested in delivering on what the people want."
September 10

Jimmy Neesham says things and we laugh

Welcome to the Jimmy Neesham corner of this column. This week, our favourite comedic hero got compared to a superhero.
When his former captain and current coach had a different suggestion, young James got his own back with a burn as hot as Brendon McCullum himself.
September 9

World Cup delivered, Morgan gets his own postbox

A plaque to celebrate "England cricket's historic position as joint holder of both ICC Cricket World Cup titles". Special stamps with images of both squads. And now, a postbox dedicated to Eoin Morgan just outside London's St.John's Wood station, to follow one dedicated to women's captain Heather Knight.
The Royal Mail's celebration of England's historic successes has spanned each of the ten host grounds of the men's edition this year. And even as cricket gets some much-needed visibility in England, vandals have started doing their thing, painting the postboxes with different colours. Football fans, stay away from them, will you? Once If Harry Kane and Co bring the World Cup home, you'll get your own. So, please?

Steven Smith batting left-handed?

Whatever could it mean? Was he saying he needs handicaps when facing England's attack? Is he mocking England's darling No. 11, the bespectacled Jack Leach? Does he really need glasses to see but is so good that he can bat without them? Mainstream and social media buzzed with speculation - mostly about him mocking Leach - since the celebration photo turned up. Eventually the photographer himself, Getty Images' Ryan Pierse, tweeted that the glasses were a tribute to former Australian opener Chris Rogers, who also bats left-handed. Clears it up?

The smell of Ashes success

Just so many questions about this photograph: whose baggy green is it? Is Steve Waugh making Nathan Lyon smell it? Would you rather inhale napalm or a used baggy green? What's Shane Warne thinking about all this?

Ellyse Perry's spooning partner

If the 10,000 hours of practice put you off your dream of becoming an elite batsman, maybe you could try giving your bat some TLC and see where that gets you. Ellyse Perry, the world's leading allrounder who has been pretty unbeatable for a few years now, carries her bat around everywhere with her and even sleeps with it. "It's a really good spooning partner at night," Perry said soon after scoring a series-clinching ODI century in Antigua. "We're pretty close, my bat and I."

Sanju Samson donates match fees to ground staff

Batsman Sanju Samson showed his appreciation for all the work the ground staff had to do get the India A-South Africa A ODIs going in rain-hit Thiruvananthapuram by donating his match fees of Rs 1.5 lakh (US$ 2100 approx) to them. "We have to give credit to the groundsmen," he told the New Indian Express. "Because of them, we were able to play. If there was some wetness here or there, then the match officials would not have allowed matches to happen. We really have to thank them. So I have decided to give my match fees to the groundsmen."
Samson played two of the five ODIs - all of them rain-shortened - and made his highest List A score of 91 in the final game that India A won by 36 runs to take the series 4-1.
Missed all the chatter last week? Catch up on it here

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