Courtesy: ICC/BCCI
Shaheen Afridi, the Pakistan fast bowler, was reportedly called a “loser” after he bowled a few wide balls when India’s Virat Kohli was nearing his hundred in a ICC Champions Trophy 2025 Group A clash. It is understood that the fans weren’t happy at the Dubai International Stadium about the left-arm pacer missing his lines and lengths, calling it a deliberate attempt at sabotaging the former Indian captain’s chance at 82nd international hundred.
Notably, heading into the 42nd over of the innings, India needed 17 runs to win in the Champions Trophy clash against Pakistan during their pursuit of the 242-run target, and Virat Kohli was at the crease on 87 runs with Axar Patel at the other end. But, the over had three wides in four balls from Shaheen Afridi, which led to him getting a lot of flak not just inside the stadium, but also in the world of social media.
According to the post from social media aggregator Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra), Shaheen Afridi was serenaded with “loser, loser” chants at the Dubai International Stadium since they believed that he deliberately bowled the wides. Ultimately, when India needed just two runs to win, Virat Kohli, who required four runs to complete his hundred, smashed Khushdil Shah past the cover region for a boundary, to achieve the milestone for the 82nd time in his international career, and 51st time in ODI cricket.
Virat Kohli is in third place in all-time international run-getters list
Notably, during his impressive hundred, which came in 111 balls, Virat Kohli became the third batter in history to go past 14,000 runs in ODI cricket, sitting behind Kumar Sangakkara and his former India teammate Sachin Tendulkar. He also got past Ricky Ponting to become the third highest run-scorer in the history of international cricket with only Sangakkara and Tendulkar ahead of him in the table.
The next international appearance of Virat Kohli will be happening at the Dubai International Stadium during India’s third and final Group A match against New Zealand on Sunday, March 2, in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025.
