Hardik Pandya's cheeky celebration as he dismisses Babar Azam for 23 in IND vs PAK 2025 Champions Trophy match [Watch]

Hardik Pandya gave a cheeky send-off after dismissing Babar Azam in the Group A encounter of the 2025 Champions Trophy between India and Pakistan on Sunday, February 23. The match is being held at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

The dismissal came in the ninth over of Pakistan's innings. Babar Azam drilled the first ball from Hardik Pandya to the boundary, but the Indian bowler responded strongly, sending the Pakistani opener back off the next delivery.

Hardik bowled a length ball outside off, and Babar went for a cover drive. However, the right-handed batter only managed to edge it, and the ball went straight into the hands of wicketkeeper KL Rahul. The Indian pacer extended his arms in celebration and cheekily waved a "bye-bye" gesture.

Here’s a video of the dismissal:

The 30-year-old was dismissed for 23 runs off 26 balls, including five boundaries. Babar’s wicket left Pakistan at 41/1 after 8.2 overs.

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Pakistan lose both their openers under 10 overs after opting to bat first in their clash against India

Pakistan's captain, Mohammad Rizwan, won the toss and opted to bat first. Imam-ul-Haq replaced Fakhar Zaman, who was ruled out of the tournament due to an injury sustained in their opening match against New Zealand. Meanwhile, India made no changes to their playing XI from the opening game.

Openers Babar Azam and Imam-ul-Haq got off to a solid start, scoring 37 runs in the first eight overs. However, Hardik Pandya provided the breakthrough for India in the ninth over, dismissing Babar for 23. In the very next over, a brilliant piece of fielding by Axar Patel resulted in Imam being run out for 10.

At the time of writing, Pakistan were 55/2 after 11 overs, with Saud Shakeel (4) and Rizwan (5) at the crease.

Playing XI of both teams:

India: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Shami, and Kuldeep Yadav.

Pakistan: Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan (wk/c), Salman Agha, Tayyab Tahir, Khushdil Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, and Abrar Ahmed.