Sorry who's this, quips Andrew Flintoff during banter with Amitabh Bachchan on Kohli-Root tweet

Virat Kohli’s magnificent 82 not out off 51 deliveries that almost single-handedly helped India beat Australia by six wickets in the virtual quarter-final at Mohali on Sunday, led to a war of words of sorts between former England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff and actor Amitabh Bachchan. Kohli’s knock, which helped India recover from a shaky position of 49 for three to eventually win with five balls to spare, received acknowledgement from across the world especially on the social media. Flintoff, who played for 79 Tests and 141 ODIs for England between 1998 and 2010, congratulated Kohli initially for his masterclass of an innings:

Class from @imVkohli 👏🏼

— Andrew Flintoff (@flintoff11) March 27, 2016

However, he started a massive fire after he decided to compare Kohli and Root, saying that the star Indian batsman might ‘catch up’ with the latter some day:

At this rate @imVkohli will be as good as @root66 one day ! Not sure who @englandcricket will meet in the final now !

— Andrew Flintoff (@flintoff11) March 27, 2016

Amitabh Bachchan who has been quite active on Twitter lately and has courted controversy with his tweet on Indian commentators, was quick to react to it in his own style:

@flintoff11 @imVkohli @root66 @englandcricket Root who ? जड़ से उखाड़ देंगे Root ko ..!!!

— Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) March 27, 2016

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Flintoff decided to come up with a cheeky response of his own, one that might have made him an enemy in the eyes of a billion Indians:

Sorry who's this ? 😜 https://t.co/sjhs7HGT1d

— Andrew Flintoff (@flintoff11) March 27, 2016

Did he not expect a flurry of angry, Flintoff-bashing messages thereafter:

.@flintoff11 @SrBachchan @imVkohli @root66 @englandcricket
Visit Madame Tussauds, London. You'll know who's he.

— InGenious (@Bees_Kut) March 27, 2016

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Beta @flintoff11,

"Rishtey Me To Wo Tumhare Baap Lagtey Hain, Naam Hai Shahenshaah". ;) @SrBachchan #IndvsAus pic.twitter.com/r4dKZjV2YX

— Sir Jadeja fan (@SirJadeja) March 27, 2016

Flintoff was taken aback by the sudden flurry of abuses from the Indians, which led to him writing this:

Getting a taste of what it is like to be @piersmorgan ,some abuse flying about ,some people just don't understand the term "tongue in cheek"

— Andrew Flintoff (@flintoff11) March 27, 2016

Having started the fire by a Kohli-Root comparison, Freddie was clearly taken aback when it went out of hand and ended up playing the victim. The ex-England cricketer may only have been joking but for Indian fans who wear their hearts on sleeves, cricket is a serious business.