Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif issued a strong response to President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s “Mr Bean” dig after the Zimbabwe senior men’s cricket team’s triumph over Pakistan at the International Cricket Council Men’s T20 World Cup that is underway in Australia.
The Chevrons beat Pakistan by one run at the Perth Stadium in a Super 12 Group 2 match on Thursday.
In congratulating the team on his social media pages, Mnangagwa threw in a joke about Pakistan sending a fake Mr Bean to Zimbabwe. He posted on Twitter:
What a win for Zimbabwe! Congratulations to the Chevrons. Next time, send the real Mr Bean…#PakvsZim
Responding to Mnangagwa’s tweet within a couple of hours, Pakistan’s leader Shahbaz Sharif said his country has “a habit of bouncing back.” He said:
We may not have the real Mr Bean, but we have a real cricketing spirit .. and we Pakistanis have a funny habit of bouncing back:) Mr President: Congratulations. Your team played really well today.
According to the Chronicle, the ongoing joke about “Mr Bean” emanated after a Pakistan man named Asif Muhammed travelled to Zimbabwe in 2016 and is a lookalike of the iconic British actor Rowan Atkinson.
The Pakistan national presented himself as Atkinson and “duped” a number of people present at the event.
Ahead of the match on Thursday, the Pakistan Cricket Board uploaded a post on its official Twitter account of the team’s players’ practising before the Zimbabwe match.
A Zimbabwean Twitter user responded by saying they were looking to settle scores with Pakistan on the cricket field as revenge for the Asian country sending a fake Mr Bean. He wrote:
As Zimbabweans, we won’t forgive you… you once gave us that Fraud Pak Bean instead of Mr Bean Rowan ..we will settle the matter tomorrow just pray the rains will save you…#ZIMVSPAK.”
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