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          The Buzz: TMI, Faf du Plessis!

          • ESPNcricinfo staff
          Dec 6, 2019, 03:55 PM

          All the world's cricketers walked into a bar. The LOLs, the chatter, and the occasional mini-brawls, they were endless. And the news cycle was never the same again! Welcome to ESPNcricinfo's Social Buzz, your go-to destination for all the bantz, the jousts, and little bit of eavesdropping from the social media playground and beyond.

          December 8

          So... this happened...

          Shouldn't surprise anyone though. Faf du Plessis has a habit of embarrassing his fast bowlers on live television.

          December 6

          It's Bumrah, baby!

          Former Pakistan allrounder Abdul Razzaq's comments referring to Jasprit Bumrah as a "baby bowler" in an interview didn't go down well with many Indian fans and former players, who criticised Razzaq for saying that since he had faced bowlers like Glenn McGrath, Wasim Akram and Shoaib Akhtar, Bumrah wouldn't trouble him. Bumrah's IPL team, Mumbai Indians, went for tongue in cheek rather than frothing at the mouth:

          Clearly T20 franchises are no babies when it comes to social-media strategies. During the Brisbane Test, legspinner Yasir Shah dismissed Steven Smith and gestured by holding up seven fingers to indicate the number of times he had got the batsman's wicket. In the next Test, when Smith became the fastest to reach 7000 Test runs, his IPL team, Rajasthan Royals, responded to Yasir with:

          Rohit interviews Kuldeep and Chahal

          Always fun to watch players interview each other. In this BCCI video, Rohit Sharma interviews Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav (although it looks more like he's minding them). Chahal talks about his new pet dog, Groot (does he bark or does he Groot?), and Yadav talks about how much he loves running in Australian cities.

          December 5

          What MS Dhoni definitely can't do after retirement

          There's been lots of talk of when MS Dhoni will announce his retirement from international cricket and what he'll do after. One thing's for certain: he will not have a career as a pop star or a Bollywood playback singer.

          Let's play some golcket

          T20? T10? The Hundred? Hong Kong Sixes? THIS is the format we want to watch!

          Tabraiz Shamsi's bizarre wicket celebration

          Now we've really seen everything. If you were wondering what could top Sheldon Cottrell's march-and-salute or Imran Tahir's gallop around the stadium, we have a new contender. In the match between Paarl Rocks and Durban Heat in the Msanzi Super League, Tabraiz Shamsi celebrated a wicket with... a magic trick - he turned his handkerchief into a stick. Unfortunately he couldn't extend the magic to the rest of the match, as Durban Heat beat Paarl Rocks by six wickets.

          December 4

          What do two triple-centurions (one quadruple, actually) do when they get together? They count their runs! Is it just us or does Lara actually look a little smug that his world-record highest individual score - 400 not out - remains unbeaten?

          December 3

          Mithali Raj gets a biopic on her birthday

          Birthday gifts don't come better than this. Former Indian captain Mithali Raj turned 37 today, and Bollywood actress Taapsee Pannu marked the event by announcing on her Instagram that she will be playing Mithali in a biopic on the cricketer's life, currently titled Shabaash Mithu. There's no timeline or release date yet, but that's probably contingent on how long it takes Pannu to master Raj's copybook cover drive. We'll keep you posted.

          December 2

          Look who isn't impressed by Joe Root's double-ton

          England fans might be delighted and relieved to see Joe Root make a double-hundred (after going 14 innings without getting to triple figures), but not everyone cares for it.

          Fitness goals with Bumrah

          Groan. This is making us think of New Year resolutions even before we wade into our holiday binge. Thanks, no thanks, Jasprit Bumrah.

          Now we know how Yasir Shah got his Test hundred

          One highlight of the Adelaide day-night Test for Pakistan was Yasir Shah's maiden Test hundred at No. 8, which helped them recover from 89 for 6 to post 302. And now we know it's all thanks to fellow bowler Usman Shinwari, who teased Shah about his pretensions of batting long during a Quaid-e-Azam game in October.

          "Yasir was aiming to play a long innings. I told him, 'I'll recognise you as a batsman if you can stay at the crease in Australia, where you will face bowlers bowling at 145-150kph. I am happy that today he has done it." (Watch from 6:09).

          Virat Kohli wants the Indian team to be remembered like Barack Obama

          In a long-ranging interview with India Today, Virat Kohli talked about being moved while watching David Letterman's Netflix interview with Barack Obama in which Letterman tells Obama: "Without a question of a doubt, you're the first president I truly and fully respect."

          "That moment, for me, was probably the most touching moment of everything they spoke about," Kohli said. "That is what we want to leave behind. If children can come up to us and say, 'Thank you for guiding us in the right direction, of achieving excellence and taking Indian cricket higher', that is what I'm going to be proud of."

          Missed all the chatter last week? Catch up on it here.