As Rohit Sharma and his boys lift trophy, Puneites go to town, celebrate with gusto
Puneites erupted into fulls-scale celebrations only after Jadeja hit the winning runs.
Citizens took out impromptu bike rallies as they sped through the city's roads. (Express Photo by Pavan Khengre) AS Ravindra Jadeja hit the winning runs and India lifted the ICC Champions Trophy, 2025 by defeating New Zealand in Dubai on Sunday, Puneites were not to be left behind when it came to celebrating the occasion along with the entire country, and with gusto.
As Pune’s skyline was lit up with bursting of crackers, hundreds of citizens in Pune city and Pimpri-Chinchwad came on to the streets, drove through the roads, honked incessantly and raised noisy slogans in favour of the Indian team. Citizens took out impromptu bike rallies as they sped through the city’s roads. Political workers were not to be left behind as they distributed sweets.
Major roads in the city including the Fergusson College Road, J M Road, Senapati Bapat Road, Law College Road, Karve Road and M G Road witnessed celebrations, especially from youngsters, some of whom were seen waiving the Indian tricolour with joy writ large on their face. Be it the Peth areas of the city, Pune Camp area, Kondhwa, Hadapsar, Kothrud, Swargate, Pashan, Sus, Aundh, Katraj, Vimananagar, Kalyaninagar, Hinjewadi, Khadki or Pimpri-Chinchwad, the scenes of jubilation were common here, there and everywhere.
On Fergusson College Road, a crowd gathered outside the main gate of Fergusson College while motorists and cars carrying Indian flags passed by. Manju Awalkanthe, a resident of Rasta Peth, who rushed to join the celebrations on Fergusson College Road, said, “The mood among the citizens was absolutely ecstatic. Every face on the F C Road had a big smile. People were clapping, cheering and backslapping.”
On Fergusson College Road, a crowd gathered outside the main gate of Fergusson College while motorists and cars carrying Indian flags passed by. (Express Photo)
In other parts of the city, the mood was no different. “We had set up a screen in our residential society. We residents watched the match together. There were a few moments when wickets in quick succession had dampened the mood, but otherwise it was all shouting and dancing in joy,.” said Neel Mane, a resident of Pashan.
Puneites erupted into full-scale celebrations only after Jadeja hit the winning runs. “Till the winning runs were scored, I did not hear any celebrations. It seemed like because of the ups and downs in the game, everyone waited till the final run was scored,” said Atul Gokhlale, a resident of Pimpri-Chinchwad.
Dashrath Gaikwad, father of Indian cricketer Ruturaj Gaikwad said,” I was never in doubt that Indian team will win. This is because we have a very strong batting line. Just imagine we have Ravindra Jadeja batting at number 8. Full credit goes to the entire team for the way they played in the entire tournament.”
Former Maharashtra captain Milind Gunjal, a Puneite who was in Dubai, said, “Our spinners bowled extremely well throughout the tournament. They did a good job restricting NZ to 251 after their good start. It was a great team effort as everyone contributed.”
As two wickets fell in quick succession, some Puneites became tense and worried about the victory prospects. “It was indeed a sweet victory finally as we managed to overwhelm the set target with ease,” said Gopal Tiwari, a Congress leader.
Sunil Chacko, a former cricketer, said, “Though tremors are part of India team’s games over the year, Rohit Sharma’s boys looked quite confident. There was only a slight moment when the batters were bogged down. Otherwise, after every fall of wicket the incoming batters kept the momentum going. K L Rahul and Hardik really turned the tide in favour of India.”
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