From Windies’ Cotterell to Pakistan’s Hafeez, all have celebrated their success in an unusual way.There were many unusual and amusing celebrations by the bowlers during the World Cup. Here are some which stood out:
Sheldon Cottrell’s salute
Cottrell, the West Indies pacer, got many new fans during the World Cup with his electric performances and an equally unique celebration. His iconic celebratory march and salute has gone viral and inspired imitations. Cottrell marches down the pitch, offers a salute to the dressing room and then stretches his arms out after every wicket.
“Me saluting is just to show my respect to the Jamaica Defence Force I do it every time I get a wicket. I practised it for six months when I was training in the army,” said Cottrell. Cottrell is an active member of the Jamaican army, and had to get permission to represent the West Indies.
Brathwaite-Gayle’s push-ups
During the match between Afghanistan and West Indies, Chris Gayle did push-ups along with the flamboyant all-rounder Carlos Brathwaite after he took a low catch to dismiss the set Rahmat Shah.
After taking the catch, Gayle lay there for a bit. Then Gayle got up, and Brathwaite joins him as they start doing the push-ups.
Imran Tahir runs amok
The Proteas finished seventh in the points table with only seven points as they could manage just three wins in their nine games. However, one highlight was veteran leg-spinner Imran Tahir’s signature celebrations.
Tahir played his last international match in the World Cup and announced his retirement along with teammate JP Duminy.
Hafeez’s moustache twirling
“There is a mixture between Charlie Chaplain and Groucho Marx and I think he loves it,” said Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur when asked to describe it.
Meanwhile, the veteran all-rounder revealed that the praise he got from teammates and fans gave him the confidence to keep the moustache.
“Well the teammates really praised it, by the time when I was growing it and obviously some of the fans really liked it, so that gave me a little bit more confidence,” said Hafeez.
Pandya’s kiss
Hardik Pandya rose to the occasion against Bangladesh with the ball as he picked up three wickets in nine overs. He was brimming with confidence and that was evident in the way he celebrated the wicket of Shakib al Hasan.
A relaxed Pandya gave him a flying kiss as he was on his way to the pavilion. Shakib had made a brilliant 66 off 74 balls and looked set for a century when Hardik got the crucial breakthrough.
Pandya has his third and it’s the biggest wicket of them all: Shakib Al Hasan.
The all-rounder lobs the ball safely into the hands of Dinesh Karthik to end his stay at the crease. #BANvIND | #CWC19 pic.twitter.com/Xaw5hVVHag
— Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) July 2, 2019
