Picture Credit: Twitter
It was certainly a dramatic day of cricket at Narendra Modi Stadium on Thursday. After England made a remarkable comeback in the third Test through Joe Root’s five-wicket haul, they completely surrendered in their second innings and got bundled out for 81. India chased the 49-run target in no time and registered a comprehensive 10-wicket victory. The match ended way earlier than expected and officially became the shortest completed match (as per balls bowled) since 1935.
However, this was not the end of drama for England Cricket. In an ugly turn of events, the male and female cricketers engaged in a war-of-words on Twitter.
Alex Hartey’s cheeky tweet
It all started when England women’s cricketer Alex Hartey made a cheeky tweet, mocking England’s loss against India in the Pink-Ball Test. She sarcastically thanked the men’s team for finishing the match in time as England women’s team were scheduled to play against New Zealand later in the day.
Rory Burns expresses his disappointment
Hartey’s tweet was not received well by a few male cricketers. Rory Burns, who was dropped for the third Test, replied, “Very disappointing attitude considering all the “boys” do to support the Women’s game.” James Anderson and Ben Stokes had also liked the tweet before it was deleted.
Ben Duckett and Samit Patel joins the debate
Things got spiced up when few other male cricketers also joined the debate. Ben Duckett termed Hartey’s tweet as ‘Average’. He added that none of the male cricketers would have applauded if women’s team had lost. Samit Patel was also not very pleased with the female cricketer’s tweet. He opined that it was very disrespectful towards the boys.
While some fans though that Hartey’s light-hearted tweet was taken out of context, the others believed that it was unprofessional behavior by her. However, ECB would have been very disappointed to see their star cricketers engaging in such a spat.
Notably, England women’s team registered a 7-wicket victory in the second ODI against New Zealand to clinch the 3-match series.