The Buzz

The Buzz: Rashid Khan turned 21 today. Or did he?

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

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 20
Just what could the joke be about, you wonder.

Hardik Pandya's throwback and Axar Patel's hilarious reply

It's always nice to see cricketers post photos of their playing days before they got famous. Hardik Pandya posted one such, but was met with some scepticism.
In the comments, team-mate Axar Patel asked in Gujarati: "Brother, tell the truth: you were really on your way to a visarjan [immersing a religious idol in a water body], weren't you?"
Throwback appeared to be the theme of the day. Virat Kohli posted side-by-side photos of him at 16 and today.

The worst possible way to get run out

If you're looking for advice on how to go viral on social media, Australian batsman Mark Cosgrove is the man you want. Last month, everyone watched slack-jawed when Cosgrove, playing county cricket for Leicestershire, casually headed a bouncer to slip with his helmet. This week, against Glamorgan, he was run out while attempting… you just have to watch it, there's no way to describe this.
The jokes followed on Twitter, with many people comparing it to accidentally pressing the run button on a video game, and Cosgrove joined in (savvy social media skills, see) as well.
September 19

Sachin Tendulkar studies Steven Smith's batting

At his peak, perhaps Sachin Tendulkar's batting was being broken down by former players and experts in a similar way.
September 17

Lungi's song

Guessing Lungi Ngidi can't take a step in India without being bombarded by this song from the movie Chennai Express?

Quinton de Kock's elite honesty

The day before a bilateral international. The first one's been rained off, there's little to talk about in terms of actual cricket. The press pack is asking questions on the IPL title you won months ago.
Quinton de Kock is new to life as an international captain, but that didn't stop him from giving an honest appraisal of the press conference ahead of South Africa's second T20I against India. Here's hoping for more entertainment through the rest of the tour.

Lin-Manuel Miranda plays cricket

After saving the sitcom Brooklyn Nine-Nine from cancellation, composer Lin-Manuel Miranda has set his sights on our beloved game. Now the only question that remains: who will play Ben Stokes in his certain-to-happen musical Headingley?
September 16

Leach loves Smith's glasses

So are we all finally saying Steven Smith's glasses were a reference to Jack Leach and not Chris Rogers?

Bonding at the end of the Ashes with beers

Australians never tire of reminding everyone how they like to leave the competition on the field and share a few beers with the opposition at the end of a series. At the end of the drawn Ashes, they did that, mingling with the England players in the dressing room, David Warner hanging out with Jack Leach and Jonny Bairstow, Pat Cummins with Chris Woakes, Steven Smith with Sam Curran, Stuart Broad with Peter Siddle, and Rory Burns with Travis Head. That's great as long as we don't have to hear another player talk about "playing hard but fair".

Meanwhile Jimmy Neesham is tied of your Ashes jokes, so knock it off, okay?

The Megastar takes on probability

Not much has gone wrong for Australia on their tour to the Caribbean, but Meg Lanning's three losses in three tosses has had her losing faith in probability.
"It's 50-50, Meg"
"But I've lost three in a row"
Her solution? Take vice-captain Rachael Haynes along next time to toss the coin. Can't say it's not been tried before.
Missed all the chatter last week? Catch up on it here