Former Australian cricketer Mitchell Johnson is not playing international cricket anymore but he has no thought of quitting the sporting banter that goes around. Johnson recently trolled Indian fast bowler Ashish Nehra while replying to New Zealand fast bowler Mitchell McClenaghan’s tweet. The banter between the two led to a question of who was the fastest left-arm bowler in the world above the age of 30. It was another former Australian cricketer, Dean Jones who crashed into the banter and tweeted, “Currently, Ashish Nehra”.
The focus of Johnson suddenly shifted to Nehra who is in India’s T20I squad against Australia. The 35-year-old fast bowler went on to troll Nehra by tweeting, “His run up is definitely faster”. This was when Indian fans joined the conversation and gave Johnson a few facts.
Here’s how the conversation between Johnson and McClenaghan started-
@Mitch_Savage can’t wait to catch up when we beat you in the upcoming BBL pic.twitter.com/ByJbochqyO
— Mitchell Johnson (@MitchJohnson398) October 8, 2017
You going around again old timer?
— Mitchell McClenaghan (@Mitch_Savage) October 8, 2017
Hahaha yep & we should have a bowl off to see who’s the fastest left armer over 30 p>— Mitchell Johnson (@MitchJohnson398) October 9, 2017
Hahaha well let’s be honest we aren’t going to have a comp to see who can swing it the most a href=”https://t.co/baLgC4gqEP”>https://t.co/baLgC4gqEP
— Mitchell McClenaghan (@Mitch_Savage) October 9, 2017
And this is the point where Jones stepped in and Johnson got a little carried away-
Currently Ashish Nehra #onlyjokingchampion https://t.co/7lCzQVg6pO
— Dean Jones (@ProfDeano) October 9, 2017
His run up is definitely faster
— Mitchell Johnson (@MitchJohnson398) October 9, 2017
But when an Indian fan tried to troll Johnson, he did not accept it in good spirits.
His line and length is much better than others..
— Rakesh Rajpurohit (@RakeshPurohit55) October 9, 2017
Hahaha really with an Ave over 40 & Strike rate close to 80 Just so you know, we are just having some banter
— Mitchell Johnson (@MitchJohnson398) October 9, 2017
Here we are talking about t20 stat.he is part of Indian t20 team not test team..Look at his avg in t20. Its 21.44… pic.twitter.com/wLJLgcMbHn
— Rakesh Rajpurohit (@RakeshPurohit55) October 9, 2017
When the Mumbai Indians fast bowler realised that the conversation was getting fierce he tried to douse the flames. But Twitterati spare no one once the arrow leaves the quiver. Johnson and Jones got trolled on Twitter for their comments –
@cricketaakash Muh khola bakwaas bola
— swastik (@swa_stik) October 9, 2017
Not every bowler can bowl 135+ at the age of 38 years.
Only Nehra ji can do it with ease & grace.— Shyam Sundar TK (@shyamsundartk) October 9, 2017
Mitchell Johnson has been a disaster for ipl.
nehra is one of the finest bowler at this age.
Mr.jonescameback at 38.@MitchJohnson398
— राहुल शर्मा (@rahuljsarma) October 9, 2017
Nehra jee is still playing while mitch retired of his poor fitness and begging to play ipl
— swastik (@swa_stik) October 9, 2017
Mate i think you Forgot the spell of Injured Ashish Nehra…6-23 against England in world Cup 2003…Nehra is better than you
— Amit Rana (@amitrana232) October 9, 2017
But he is still running and you are already runout
— Jojin Jose (@Jojin1327) October 9, 2017
May beYou r the fastest left hand bowler…..but ur not in picture.still nehra keep the consistency.u people trained for sledging nt bowling
— Jiju John (@JijuJohn19) October 9, 2017
This is just a Australian Brain fade… Which occurs on every month on anyone player of Australia…
— Tushal Gupta (@imTushal) October 9, 2017
I like Aussie banter but have some logic at least. #KuchhBhi
— Abhishek Kumar (@abhik2593) October 9, 2017
It is a shame that Nehra does not have a Twitter account and distances himself from social media platforms. Otherwise, Nehra’s answer to Johnson’s trolls would have been quite interesting to see. The 38-year-old is still playing while Johnson decided to hang his boots at the age of 34.
It is to be noted that Nehra has better statistics in Indian Premier League (IPL) than Johnson and has been playing well in the recent seasons. That’s why his selection is justified because he can still bowl good spells in short bursts and keep the opposition under pressure. Also, he can still bowl at a lethal pace.
