Pakistani Mr Bean may not be real, but cricketing spirit is: PM Shehbaz

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif  says Pakistanis have a funny habit of bouncing back. 

PM Shehbaz's comment came hours  after Pakistan lost a crucial ICC Twenty20 World Cup match to Zimbabwe. He was responding to Zimbabwe's President  Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa who took a jibe at Pakistan in a tweet. 

In a quote-retweet, the prime minister congratulated the Zimbabwean president by saying, "Mr President: Congratulations. Your team played really well today."

Expressing joy over the win of his team, the Zimbabwe's president also took a jibe at Pakistan, saying, "Next time, send the real Mr Bean."

Shehbaz responded by saying, "We may not have the real Mr Bean, but we have real cricketing spirit .. and we Pakistanis have a funny habit of bouncing back."

Zimbabwe pulled off a stunning one-run upset by putting the Asian giants in danger of an early exit from the Twenty20 World Cup. Pakistan restricted Zimbabwe to 130-8. But their bowlers, led by Pakistan-born Sikandar Raza, choked Pakistan to 129-8 for a memorable win in a Super 12s thriller in Perth.

With two straight defeats, Pakistan face crashing out of the major tournament.

Earlier, cricket fans got engaged in a Twitter war on the ongoing joke about Mr Bean, which has roots in an event in Zimbabwe.

According to a Zimbabwean fan on Twitter, Pakistan sent fake Mr Bean to Zimbabwe to entertain at an event. When asked, the Zimbabwean fan shared the picture of Asif Memon, who resembles Mr Bean, a popular TV character portrayed by English actor Rowan Atkinson.

Memon was invited to an event in Zimbabwe in 2016 when he attended a comedy night at the Harare International Conference Centre.