'We put men on the moon'

This week's Twitter round-up features moonshot references, stray thoughts from the English Midlands, and one man's throwback Tuesday

Srinath Sripath

18-Apr-2017

Suresh Raina and Aaron Finch walk back after competing a win for Gujarat Lions, Gujarat Lions v Rising Pune Supergiant, IPL 2017, Rajkot, April 14, 2017

With things being the way they are after a couple of weeks into IPL 10..

Englanders in the IPL:
Tymal Mills - 3 for 122 in 4 games
Ben Stokes - 1 for 109, 73 runs in 3 games
Jos Buttler - 82 runs in 4 games
— Peter Della Penna (@PeterDellaPenna) April 14, 2017

..this perspective from the Blighty isn't entirely a surprise.

Owt interesting happening in @IPL
— Darren Gough (@DGoughie) April 17, 2017

The Aussies, meanwhile, have been coming to terms with a whole different issue.

@AaronFinch5 doesn't play because his kit bag didn't turn up? Really? We put men on the moon! #allegedly #findFinchybag
— Dean Jones (@ProfDeano) April 16, 2017

Maybe the airline decided to limit the number of overseas player kits to just four?

One overseas player who can soon pass off as a local is Dwayne Bravo: he has already danced in a Tamil movie and produced a YouTube chartbuster. And now he's embracing Gujarati culture.

Never looked better, @DJBravo47!

ભાઈ ભાઈ, ભાઈ ભાઈ #GameMaariChhe pic.twitter.com/fSh50yQs3b
— The Gujarat Lions (@TheGujaratLions) April 13, 2017

We don't miss typos too often, but on the odd occasion when we do, things escalate quickly. Like this instance, when discussion went from timing a cricket ball to explaining Delhi belly within a few characters.

Nothing new! It's literally the most important part of playing Test cricket in India.
— Jimmy Neesham (@JimmyNeesh) April 16, 2017

@JimmyNeesh @theACCnz @scottbstyris we should all take a cue from Mccullum #IPL2017 pic.twitter.com/MXAJM7M7jj
— Tim Beste (@theebeaste) April 16, 2017

Speaking of Delhi, Kings XI's defeat at the Kotla meant political analogies were out in full force.

so a team from punjab comes to delhi and loses badly not long after a team from delhi went to punjab and lost badly #DDvKXIP
— Gaurav Kalra (@gauravkalra75) April 15, 2017

Sticking to the one-thing-that-reminds-you-of-another theme, a grown-up Dev Patel added himself to the ever-expanding list of Ishant Sharma doppelgangers.

Separated at birth ? Here we have Ishant Sharma & Dev Patel.
What do you reckon @davidwarner31 ? pic.twitter.com/doTNvZsd8J
— The Oracle (@BigOtrivia) April 18, 2017

Ishant's fellow Sharma and India team-mate Rohit was at the receiving end of gags like these till late last week.

That awkward moment when you discover Bhuvaneshwar Kumar has taken more no of wickets than the no of runs scored by Rohit Sharma #IPL
— Srivatsan V (@Sr1vatsanV) April 16, 2017

He's sped past Bhuvneshwar, who now needs 34 wickets to even catch up. Not entirely beyond him, at the rate he's going.

Another man who's been among the wickets (and runs, at one point), is Sunil Narine. His promotion to take Chris Lynn's place was one punt beyond even the most foresighted of fantasy team managers.

Has Gauti made Narine as his batting powerplayer? #IPL
— Aishwaryaa Haridas (@ImAishu_) April 13, 2017

Week two of Brendon McCullum v Royal Challengers Bangalore features this throwback from the man himself.

A fair few beers between then and now but the memories of that day still remain. Thanks for everyones support. See u 2nite @RCBTweets https://t.co/FGEfx9Wdby
— Brendon McCullum (@Bazmccullum) April 18, 2017

Unfortunately, though, he took throwback a tad too literally, while catching Chris Gayle by the boundary rope.

That's the first hat-trick I've seen cost a fielding team. Screamer by McCullum in more ways than one. @ESPNcricinfo
— Brad Hogg (@Brad_Hogg) April 18, 2017

Srinath Sripath is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo