Twitter Reactions: Virender Sehwag’s retirement rumors blaze the internet

Twitter Reactions: Virender Sehwag’s retirement rumors blaze the internet: Virender Sehwag, one of the greatest openers test cricket has ever seen, has announced his retirement from international cricket. But that, was the news before Sehwag himself apparently rubbished the claims.

Earlier, Sehwag has confirmed that he will participate in the retired-players T20 tournament, named MCL. Sehwag,  who was present alongside Brian Lara, Graeme Smith and Azhar Mahmood at the launch of MCL, was asked how he could play as MCL is a retired cricketers’ league, Sehwag said “If I am not retired I will not play. I will go back to India and announce my retirement.”

The statement was misinterpreted and it was assumed that the Legend has announced immediate retirement, a day before his 37th birthday.

And so with Sehwag's retirement the golden age of Indian batting finally comes to an end. Viru, Dravid, SRT, Dada and VVS. #ThankYouViru

— Freddie Wilde (@fwildecricket) October 19, 2015

https://twitter.com/ChennaiIPL/status/656149010864996352

As far as the entertainment goes Sehwag was to cricket what Salman Khan is to Bollywood. #ThankYouSehwag Thanks for the memories.

— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) October 19, 2015

And so with Sehwag's retirement the golden age of Indian batting finally comes to an end. Viru, Dravid, SRT, Dada and VVS. #ThankYouViru

— Freddie Wilde (@fwildecricket) October 19, 2015

Multan 309, Chennai 319, Galle 200*, Adelaide 150, Melbourne 195, Indore 219 in ODIs. Few of Sehwag's masterclasses! #ThankYouSehwag

— Srini Mama ? (@SriniMama16) October 19, 2015

The game-changing batsman who completed an iconic line up & took India right to the top! Wish you a happy retirement @virendersehwag!

— Royal Challengers (@RCBTweets) October 19, 2015

#ThankYouSehwag

Truly enjoyed watching u bat mate.
Absolute rockstar.
Good luck in life's next innings. ??????@virendersehwag

— atul kasbekar (@atulkasbekar) October 19, 2015

#ThankYouSehwag – The Stats may not tell the full story.. The aggression you showed is matchless.. Will Miss you! pic.twitter.com/vBnA6BYYWc

— Ramesh Bala (@rameshlaus) October 19, 2015

Cricket ERA is now truly over . Memories 🙂 #ThankYouSehwag pic.twitter.com/pqxtSb7egZ

— Dhaval Patel (@dhaval241086) October 19, 2015

Virender Sehwag's retirement: The unofficial Google doodle. pic.twitter.com/9SRnANRecN

— Soumyadip Choudhury (@soumyadip) October 19, 2015

#JustSaying pic.twitter.com/2WJtBBX2Oc

— Gabbbar (@GabbbarSingh) October 19, 2015

India's Highest Total in ODI:

418/5
414/7
413/5

and Virender Sehwag was Man of the match in all three matches#ThankyouSehwag

— Broken Cricket (@BrokenCricket) October 19, 2015

Then, this happened

'It is not official yet,' Virender Sehwag said when asked about his retirement in Dubai. He only hinted about it. https://t.co/QaAU5KaupM

— CricketNDTV (@CricketNDTV) October 19, 2015

Following this post, the twitteratti came back to it’s senses, and spread the news that this was not Sehwag’s statement for immediate retirement, but it is an implied statement that he will retire soon.

#ThankYouSehwag for rubbishing your retirement claims. Now we can resume tweeting to save the nation.

— Aladdin (@Alllahdin) October 19, 2015

hehe…Ye to cheating hai…But great news..plz come back & score few more centuries.. #ThankYouSehwag https://t.co/EHKvVyfN8l

— Paresh Rawal fan (@Babu_Bhaiyaa) October 19, 2015

BIGGEST TROLL MOMENT OF THE CENTURY! False Retirement reports of Sehwag! #ThankYouSehwag for not retiring.

— bhushan kadam (@sachinislife) October 19, 2015

https://twitter.com/INDlAN_/status/656157955843342336

So all the #ThankYouSehwag tweets were a waste. Now blame this too on Modi .

— Vikas Agarwal (@VikasAgarwalll) October 19, 2015

Ok everybody. Delete your #thankyouSehwag tweets or save them for later. The champ is not yet done!

— parag (@thebombaynomad) October 19, 2015

Definitely one of those moments when tweets spread faster than rumors. Thanks to the internet, and twitter in particular, the hashtag #thankyousehwag trended internationally. Even now it continues to trend, albeit the complete opposite reason. The fans heaved a sigh of relief, and hope that the legend receives a deserving farewell.