Underdogs and joy of a World Cup kind

A cricket meme this week features a captains' photo taken before the tournament. The ten men have been asked to strike an ageing pose-Usain Bolt's thunderbolt - so that the whole thing looks like a dad joke. In the crop on the meme, only four are visible.

- Rahul Bhattacharya

The seasoned South Africa and England captains have thrown themselves into it, angling their torsos, tossing their heads up. At their backs, Scott Edwards of Netherlands and Afghanistan's Hashmatullah Shahidi, stiff as cardboard cut-outs, have their fingers pointed straight in front, the slightest of smirks on their faces.

"Bavuma and Buttler had no clue what was behind them," is the caption.

With their cool dismantling of champions England and hot South Africa, Afghanistan and Netherlands sparked joy of a very World Cup kind. Memes, laughs, tears. The little boy who wept and hugged Mujeeb Ur Rahman at the end of the match in Delhi, Mujeeb posted afterwards, was not Afghan, he was Indian, overcome with happiness.

And in the chilly night at Dharamsala on Tuesday, as Bavuma, a white towel draped over his jersey, looked on like a forlorn king, the Dutch fans who danced with unchoreographed zest were joined by Indians rooting for the underdog.