'It was not nice of Archer to just walk away while Smith was in pain. I was always the first one to run to the batsman.'
A serious remark made by Shoaib Akthar questioning Jofra Archer's sportsmanship over the bouncer incident in the second Ashes Test was met with a hilarious tweet by former Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh on Monday.
Former Pakistan pacer Akhtar tweeted about Archer's behaviour saying he should have gone up to Australia's Steve Smith to check on him after hitting him with a bouncer, during Day 4 of the second Test at Lord's on Saturday.
Akhtar claimed that he was always the one to check on the batsman when such incidents happened in his playing days.
"Bouncers are a part & parcel of the game but whenever a bowler hits a batsman on the head and he falls, courtesy requires that the bowler must go & check on him. It was not nice of Archer to just walk away while Smith was in pain. I was always the first one to run to the batsman," he tweeted on Sunday.
To which Yuvraj replied: "Yes you did! But your actual words were hope your alright mate cause there are a few more coming".
Akhtar and Yuvraj have had quirky exchanges on Twitter in the past as well.
The left-handed batsman had retired from all forms of international cricket on June 10, and the very next day of his retirement he had taken to Twitter to reveal that he was "terrified" whenever Pakistani pacer Shoaib Akhtar bowled.
Soon after Yuvraj announced his retirement, Akhtar had posted a video to bid adieu to the left-hander.
"Yuvraj is a rockstar, a match-winner and a very good friend. When I saw him in 2003 in the World Cup match at Centurion, he played a very good knock and I always found him as an elegant batsman. He's a Punjabi and speaks our language," Akhtar had said in the video.
"I remember that he used to play very fluently. Yuvi always knew a lot about cricket. Yuvraj has done wonders for his nation. He was an integral part of India's 2011 World Cup triumph and his six sixes against Stuart Broad will always be remembered. He is very patriotic and he will always remain the biggest match-winner. I wish him all the very best for his future," he had added.
In response to the heartwarming video, Yuvraj had tweeted, "Thanks payan for ur lovely wishes. Trust me Every time u ran in to bowl at me it was terrifying! Had to gather a lot of courage to face u. We had some great battles will always cherish those moments @shoaib100mph."
The Chandigarh-born cricketer, whose on-field exploits defined India's last two World Cup triumphs, has played 304 ODIs, 58 T20Is and 40 Tests.
He managed to imprint his place in the echelons of cricket as a player who could pretty much win matches for his side either through his electric fielding, deceiving bowling or fierce batting.
Yuvi, as he is fondly called, is renowned for hitting six sixes in an over of Stuart Broad in the ICC T20 World Cup 2007 and he was awarded the Player of the Tournament in India's 2011 50-over World Cup triumph.
