- Sunday, March 09, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
Zimbabwe’s dramatic 1-run win over Pakistan in the ongoing T20 World Cup in Perth, Australia, on Thursday (27) seems to have repercussions well beyond the boundary ropes.
While the cricketing fraternity was still to come out of the shock after Babar Azam’s men failed to chase down a moderate target of 131 in 20 overs against the spirited Africans, the political leaderships of the two countries were also found to be engaging with each other, not just over the match but also over an old row involving the Pakistani ‘Mr Bean’.
Zimbabwean president Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa came up with a tweet to congratulate his country’s cricketers for their hard-fought win but also dived into the ‘Mr Bean’ row to take a jibe at Pakistan.
On Friday (28), Pakistani prime minister Shehbaz Sharif responded to Mnangagwa’s tweet saying his country has a “real cricketing spirit” and “a funny habit of bouncing back”. He then congratulated the Zimbabwean leader over the cricket team’s splendid show.
But what is the ‘Mr Bean’ row all about?
In 2016, a man having a striking resemblance to popular British actor-comedian Rowan Atkinson was hired by some organisers of an event in Zimbabwe to visit the African country and entertain the spectators.
The man, identified as ‘Mr Pak Bean’, was Assif Muhammad from Pakistan who even received quality security during his visit to Zimbabwe.
The Zimbabweans were not impressed with the incident and even before Thursday’s games, the six-year-old ‘humiliation’ came to the fore with Zimbabwean fans cautioning the Pakistanis that a revenge was coming.
As Zimbabweans we wont forgive you…you once gave us that Fraud Pak Bean instead of Mr Bean Rowan ..we will settle the matter tommorow just pray the rains will save you…#ZIMVSPAK
— Ngugi Chasura (@mhanduwe0718061) October 25, 2022
A fake Mr Bean was once paid to come and perform in Zimbabwe in 2016. pic.twitter.com/IrM5pfqcoH
— ApexNewsZim (@ApexNewsZim) February 3, 2021
A fake Mr Bean was once paid to come and perform in Zimbabwe in 2016. pic.twitter.com/IrM5pfqcoH
— ApexNewsZim (@ApexNewsZim) February 3, 2021
The defeat against Zimbabwe was Pakistan’s second in as many matches after they lost a close encounter against arch-rivals India in Melbourne on Sunday (23). The former world champions are now precariously placed in the tournament and would have to pray for luck besides winning all their remaining games against the Netherlands, Bangladesh, and South South Africa.
