‘Meme guy’ whose angry reaction went viral is so famous now that he was spotted on fans t-shirts during Pakistan’s match against New Zealand.
A group of fans donned t-shirts featuring Muhammad Sarim Akhtar’s iconic ‘reaction’ to Edgbaston, Birmingham on Wednesday. We have to give it to the passionate cricket fans for this unique idea.
Sarim went viral during Pakistan vs Australia World Cup encounter over his ‘priceless reaction’ to cricketer Muhammad Asif dropping an easy catch.
Men in green were sloppy in the field on June 12 and Asif dropping Australian batsman Aaron Finch’s catch who went onto to score a century wasn’t taken well by Sarim. His immediate reaction, full of disappointment and anger took the internet by storm.
A group of Pakistan fans have come to today's game wearing @msarimakhtar (A.K.A the 'Meme Guy') T-shirts 😂 #CWC19 | #NZvPAK pic.twitter.com/WNpUelPh3l
— ICC Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) June 26, 2019
The cricket fans got the shirts made two days before flying out. Speaking about what inspired the fans to have Sarim’s reaction on their t-shirts, they said “It encapsulates all our emotions through the World Cup—love, hope, disappointment, anger, frustration. Whether we win or lose, his face is going to represent us.”
When asked what it is about his reaction that he has gone viral, a fan said “I think this is going to be the universal emoji for dropped catches and as Pakistani fans we know how it feels because we have dropped 14 so far, I think.”
They explained that this is meant to ward off all the bad omens and hopefully fans won’t see faces like this till the final if Pakistan team performs well.
‘Meme Guy’ met his fans and was gifted a t-shirt signed by the group.
Finally met my famous fan group. !!!!
A big THANK YOU to @usmanayyaz @ridaqr @ferozeshah @shadycola
Usman Ayyaz
Rida Qadri
Feroze Shah
Shmyla Khan pic.twitter.com/5GrEflI51J— Sarim Akhtar (@msarimakhtar) June 27, 2019
From numerous memes being circulated to being turned into a GIF and now being sported by fans, Sarim whose face every cricket fan is familiar with didn’t see this coming.
By now, Sarim has given interviews to all leading channels and has even started a YouTube channel considering his growing popularity. It’s uncertain whether Pakistan will qualify for the semis but one thing is certain that the cricket fan’s reaction will stay fresh in our minds.
