Abrar Ahmed has praised Virat Kohli. Photo: AP/IANS
Pakistan's Abrar Ahmed hogged the limelight for all wrong reasons during the 2025 Champions Trophy match against India. The leg-spinner taunted Shubman Gill with his celebration after taking his wicket. He bowled a brilliant spell of 10-0-28-1 but couldn't stop Virat Kohli from scoring a century. The India legend remained unbeaten on 100 to take India to a comfortable win.
Nearly a week after the India-Pakistan match, Abrar defied Inzamam-ul-Haq's call to isolate India by praising childhood hero Virat Kohli. Abrar took to Instagram to share a heartfelt post for the Indian legend.
"Bowling to my childhood hero Virat Kohli. Grateful for his appreciation—his greatness as a cricketer is only matched by his humility as a person. A true inspiration on and off the field!" he wrote.
Speaking on a Pakistani TV channel, Inzamam asked the boards to stop their players from participating in IPL. "Keep aside the Champions Trophy. Top players participate in IPL but Indian players don't participate in other leagues. Other boards should stop sending their players to IPL. If you (BCCI) don't release your players for leagues, then other boards should take a stance," he told a Pakistani TV channel.
Comfortable win for India
Chasing a target of 242, India lost the early wicket of Rohit Sharma. The India captain departed for 20 off 15 balls. Virat and Shubman Gill stitched a 69-run partnership for the second wicket.
Virat and Shreyas Iyer added 114 runs for the third wicket to take India to the cusp of a win. Virat was 4 runs away from the win when India needed 2 runs to win. Virat hit a boundary to complete his century.
The win took India to the semi-final. The Men in Blue will face South Africa or Australia in the knockout match. The defeat at the hands of India ended Pakistan's run in the tournament. The host nation was eliminated on the fifth day of the 2025 Champions Trophy.
Pakistan ended their campaign without a win. Their last game against Bangladesh was washed out due to rain. The first semi-final will be played in Dubai while the second knockout game is scheduled to take place in Lahore. The final will be moved out of Pakistan if India qualify for the summit clash. The 2025 CT final will be played on March 9.
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