India-Pakistan cricket rivalry: A gold mine for hilarious memes

The Ashes may be the oldest rivalry in cricket but even the players agree that when it comes to passion and eyeballs, it pales in comparison to India-Pakistan matches. Over the last decade or so, the two teams have largely faced off only in international tournaments, leading to fewer matches between the two arch-rivals. And along with the hype on the field and excitement among the fans, come the

memes

on social media. As India and Pakistan face off today at the

T20 World Cup

in the

UAE

, here’s a look at how this rivalry has given some of the most memorable memes in the last few years.

Mauka Mauka

memes

In the run-up to the Indo-Pak contest in the 2015 World Cup, the official broadcaster came up with the iconic Mauka Mauka ad

The rivalry may have existed on the cricket pitch for decades but in the meme world, it began barely a few years ago. And what started it was an advertisement. In the run-up to the

Indo-Pak

contest in the 2015 World Cup, the official broadcaster came up with the iconic Mauka Mauka ad. The ad showed a Pakistani fan waiting for the mauka (opportunity) to burst crackers celebrating Pakistan’s victory over India in the World Cup. However, as the Indian team kept winning, he ended up being disappointed Cup after Cup. While the ad and the jingle became instant hits, it became a shareworthy meme on social media, with Indian fans using it as a celebratory phrase after beating Pakistan.

Such was the popularity of the Mauka Mauka concept that two years later, when Pakistan did beat India in the final of the Champions Trophy, many Pak fans shared memes to the tune of “Ab aa gaya mauka”. A brand across the border even produced an ad mocking the concept with a jingle of their own called, “No issue, le lo tissue”.
The timeless favourite – broken TV sets memes

Reports of fans on both sides of the border breaking their TV sets in anger whenever their team loses has given birth to several memes

While memes around cricket – and in particular Indo-Pak matches – are usually topical, borrowing elements from what is happening at that point in time, there has been one meme that has remained timeless. Since the ’90s, there have been reports of fans on both sides of the border breaking their TV sets in anger whenever their team loses to the arch rivals. This phenomenon has given birth to several memes that trend almost every time these two teams have clashed in the last decade.

Disappointed Pakistani fan memes

A post-match interview of a Pakistan fan named Momin Saqib outside the stadium gave rise to multiple memes

It was the 2019

World Cup

that proved to be the real goldmine for cricketing memes. The tournament had already given the world the ‘Disappointed Pak fan’ meme before the two teams met. But when the Indo-Pak match did take place on June 22, there were memes galore. After India yet again won a game, a post-match interview of a Pakistan fan named Momin Saqib outside the stadium gave rise to multiple memes. His impassioned and emotional rant on his team’s loss popularised the phrases “Waqt badal diya, jazbaat badal diya” and “Maaro mujhe maaro”, immortalising them as memes.

Sarfaraz memes

After a picture of Pak captain Sarfaraz Ahmed yawning in the field went viral, he became the butt of many jokes from fans on both sides of the border

A picture of Pakistan captain Sarfaraz Ahmed yawning in the field went viral even before the match ended with the skipper finding himself as the butt of several jokes from fans on both sides of the border.