The India vs Pakistan rivalry has deep roots that extend beyond the cricket field, and the celebrations by both Hardik Pandya and Abrar Ahmed in yesterday’s showdown between the two teams would have surely not gone down too well with the fans of these teams. Both nations have had tense relations in the past, which has caused the India vs Pakistan games to create an incredibly intense atmosphere. The game between the two in the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy was also very intense, and this caused one player from each team, Hardik Pandya and Abrar Ahmed, to celebrate emphatically after picking up a wicket.
Credit: Indiatimes
Hardik Pandya’s celebration after dismissing Pakistan star Babar Azam was done for a reason. When Pandya started his spell with the ball, Babar seemed to be an incredible touch, not only striking the ball well but also doing so with style. In fact, Babar Azam managed to hit Pandya for a stylish boundary in his very first over. He followed this up by sending the first ball of Hardik Pandya’s second over to the boundary rope. Conceding runs in such a manner would have surely infuriated the Indian all-rounder, and you could see that Hardik Pandya was raring to try to pick up Babar Azam’s wicket.
It looked like Babar Azam was settling in for a big score, and Indian fans started to get scared. However, despite being hit for a boundary on the first ball of his second over, Pandya kept his cool and delivered a sharp, good-length delivery that moved away slightly after pitching. Babar tried to produce another one of his signature cover drives, but he misjudged the ball and ended up edging the ball straight into KL Rahul’s gloves behind the stumps. Hardik Pandya finally managed to get his man and decided to send Babar Azam off with a ‘bye-bye’ celebration in response to picking up his wicket after Babar had hit him for multiple boundaries.
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Abrar Ahmed had a very intense celebration after picking up the wicket of Shubman Gill in the 18th over in the game between the Indian cricket team and the Pakistan cricket team. The Indian team was chasing a target of 242, and Shubman Gill, who was coming into the game having just scored a century, was one of the most crucial wickets that Pakistan needed to pick if they were to have any chance of restricting India and winning the game. Abrar Ahmed was able to provide this breakthrough in the third ball of the 18th over. He bowled a brilliant carrom ball and completely fooled Gill as the ball turned away from Gill’s bat and into the stumps.
Nikal Nikal Celebration by Abrar Ahmed on his wicket of Shubman Gill 🤯🔥#INDvsPAK #ChampionsTrophy pic.twitter.com/Rf3AGTi58T
— Mursaleen wafai (@MursaleenWafai) February 23, 2025
This was a huge wicket for Pakistan, but instead of celebrating with emotion, Abrar Ahmed decided to take a different route. He crossed his hands and made a face towards Gill to celebrate having picked up the wicket of the talented Indian batsman. While the exact intention of his celebration was open to interpretation, fans around the world feel that Abrar did this as a way to signal Gill to return to the dressing room after taking his wicket. While Abrar might have felt the need to celebrate like that, most people, including some Pakistan legends, felt that it was completely unnecessary and over the top and have criticised him for doing such a celebration.
While the celebrations by both Hardik Pandya and Abrar Ahmed have received mixed reviews online, most of the trolling and criticism seems to be towards Abrar, most likely because Pakistan ended up losing the game. While Hardik Pandya’s celebration could be taken as an egotistical one as well, the fact is that he is a much more established player than Abrar Ahmed, and Pandya’s team ended up winning the game. Due to these circumstances, it is clear that there is only one winner in this celebration battle, and that is Hardik Pandya.
For more news and updates on Hardik Pandya and Abrar Ahmed, keep reading GutshotMagazine.com. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Telegram.
Guransh Machra is a sportswriter at Gutshot Magazine. He covers football news from local leagues like the Indian Super League as well as international leagues like the Premier League. He follows various sports like Football, Cricket, Formula 1, and Tennis. Apart from sports, Guransh is also enthusiastic about reading and gaming.
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