Roger Federer is ruling the world of Tennis, one grand slam at a time. But, on July 10, Federer entered the International Cricket Council (ICC) batting rankings as well and ended up topping it. The 36-year-old played a ‘forward defence’ lookalike shot during his fourth-round match against Adrian Mannarino. The Swiss great entered the quarter-finals of Wimbledon 2018 with a comprehensive win by 6-0, 7-5, 6-4.
During the match, Mannarino’s serve was defended by Federer in a cricket-like shot. Wimbledon’s Twitter handle was quick to post the video and tag ICC. Here’s the video of the shot —
Ratings for @rogerfederer‘s forward defence, @ICC?#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/VVAt2wHPa4
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 9, 2018
ICC replied to the video in a few hours with a screenshot of their batting rankings page with Federer as the No.1 batsman.
*sigh* ok… pic.twitter.com/KXnhaznxL8
— ICC (@ICC) July 9, 2018
They did not just stop there. They used a widely-used Spiderman meme with legendary Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and Federer. Tendulkar is a big fan of Federer and has witnessed several matches of his in the past. The legendary duo met each other and admired each other’s skills.
When greatness recognises greatness pic.twitter.com/UB2hJli5gw
— ICC (@ICC) July 9, 2018
As the tweets went viral, Tendulkar appreciated Federer’s forward defence too in a tweet –
As always, great hand-eye co-ordination. @rogerfederer, let’s exchange notes on cricket and tennis after you win your 9th @Wimbledon title https://t.co/2TNUHGn1zK
— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) July 10, 2018
However, Australian fans need not worry about the batting rankings. Steven Smith is still leading the rankings despite the one-year ban following the ball-tampering fiasco in South Africa.
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Federer will play South African player Kevin Anderson in the quarter-final of Wimbledon 2018. On the other hand, Indian skipper will eye the Number 1 spot in Tests as India will play England in a five-match Test series, starting August 1.
