The Asia Cup 2025 Super Four game at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday witnessed a war of celebrations with Abrar Ahmed and Wanindu Hasaranga mimicking each other. Pakistan spinner Abrar added spice to the high-stakes contest after imitating Hasaranga's celebration in the first innings, and the Sri Lanka spinner fired back not once, but twice in the second half of the match.
The incident happened in the 13th over of the opening innings of the third Super Four game in the ongoing continental tournament. Abrar dished out a googly as Hasaranga was beaten in his attempt at a slog sweep. The ball rattled against the middle stump, and the spinner broke into Hasaranga's celebration. Although he wasn't quite sure if he had done it correctly, as he was spotted asking his teammates immediately.
The Sri Lanka star showed no mercy in responding to Abrar. After picking up a stunning diving catch with one hand to dismiss Fakhar Zaman on the penultimate ball of the powerplay, he imitated Abrar's celebration, the one he had done in a send-off to Shubman Gill in their Champions Trophy face-off earlier this year in February.
{{/usCountry}}The Sri Lanka star showed no mercy in responding to Abrar. After picking up a stunning diving catch with one hand to dismiss Fakhar Zaman on the penultimate ball of the powerplay, he imitated Abrar's celebration, the one he had done in a send-off to Shubman Gill in their Champions Trophy face-off earlier this year in February.
{{/usCountry}}Hasaranga did not stop there. On the next over, as he got rid of Saim Ayub, he pulled off the celebration again, and this time Abrar, sitting in the dugout, took notice of it. In fact, the camera later showed that the Pakistani could not help but smile.
Pakistan beat Sri Lanka
Pakistan all but ended Sri Lanka's hopes of making it through the Asia Cup final after the Salman Ali Agha-led side chased down 134 runs with five wickets in hand. Hussain Talat was the pick of the player for Pakistan, having picked up two wickets and scored an unbeaten 32 to steer his team home.
Pakistan, who lost to India on Sunday, will next face Bangladesh in their final Super Four game on Thursday.
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