If Darren Jason Watkins Jr, popularly known IShowSpeed or Speed, was trying to reach out to the Indian audience yet again, one has to say he has succeeded in a speedy way.
Those who don’t know who he is, he is a YouTuber, streamer and rapper. On YouTube, he boasts a following of almost 55 million (5.5 crore in Indian speak). A video has now gone viral wherein Speed can be seen bowling, rather throwing.
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It appears the video has been shot in the Caribbean. Speed is wearing a yellow tee with Antigua and Barbuda printed at the front. He is at the non-striker’s end and watches West Indian pacer Alzaari Joseph bowl way outside the off-stump. Disclaimer: he may not be Joseph. It may be someone else.
The 21-year-old influencer then decides to have a shot of his own at the stumps. And guess what? He does it in style. Bull’s eye! Though his bowling action is not legal by any means. He appears more like a fielder who picks up the ball and throws down the stumps in the blink of an eye. Speed, however, can be heard shouting, “I might be the greatest. Virat Kohli, call me… ICC call me, Mumbai cricket team call me.
“Virat Kohli, bruh, you might need to call me.”
Speed is a big fan of football star Cristiano Ronaldo. By the way, Kohli is also a Ronaldo fan. You can connect the dots. But it was a bit too much to think he was good enough to play in the IPL!
But why didn’t he say RCB?
But why did he say, Mumbai cricket team, why not Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB)? It’s obvious that he has limited information on the great Indian batsman. That he took the name of Mumbai Indians might be down to the fact that Joseph played for the IPL franchise a few years ago.
Kieron Pollard, a legend at the Mumbai franchise, is also a West Indian, so maybe Speed knows the franchise through him.
Speed is famous for his chaotic and energetic production across platforms. Despite dabbling in many things, he is primarily considered a gamer. It appears that with this cricket content, he has yet again tried to reach out to the 1.5 billion-strong Indian audience.
A US citizen, Speed was also in attendance during the India-Pakistan T20 World Cup match in New York in 2024. He was particularly cheering for Kohli. When the Indian batter hit Naseem Shah for a four, his joy knew no bounds. However, when Shah sent him back to the dug-out shortly after, Speed was left stunned.