Sarim Akhtar: Life as a sports meme

Sports Content Strategy with MrRichardClarke: Exploring sports content, journalism, digital and social media

Sarim Akhtar's face has become synonymous with anger but he is actually a very happy chap.

However, when the television cameras momentarily caught his expression at a cricket match two years ago, the Pakistan fan was furious after his team had dropped a catch. Within hours, the anonymous meme-makers had pounced on the picture and spread it around social media. He has been 'Insta-famous' ever since.

How should you react in this situation? Ignore it, embrace it or just make as much cash as you can? Then there is your family and work colleagues. And what about those occasions when you become the face of something you know nothing about.

Then there is the real question at the heart of the matter - as the subject of a sports meme does Sarim have any idea why his one happened to capture the world's imagination.

Topics

How the meme happened

Why he was actually suppressing anger

When the meme really took off

Getting thousands of Facebook requests overnight and why he got scared at first

"My meme is not an awkward moment so perhaps I can embrace it more than some."

He has never made a meme and was not a social media person

The versions of the meme he has enjoyed the most

What people say when they contact him

The person who wanted permission to put his face on their credit card

Making money - a Coca-cola ad in Pakistan and why he has got more advertisements

The promo for the Pakistan Cricket Board

His family's reaction

What happened on the two-year anniversary of the meme

Did it sum up the moment for Pakistan cricket

Will he ever get tired of it?

Has he ever thought why it happened to him?

Is he happy it happened?