Team India secured a spot in the Champions Trophy final on Tuesday with a thrilling four-wicket victory over Australia at the Dubai International Stadium. The Men in Blue will now lock horns with the winner of the second semi-final between New Zealand and South Africa, set to take place on Wednesday. KL Rahul, coming in at number six, took the crease after Axar Patel's dismissal at 178-4 in the 35th over. Rahul played a crucial knock of 42 off 34 balls, including two boundaries and two sixes. He teamed up with Virat Kohli (84 off 98 balls) and Hardik Pandya (28 off 24 balls). Overcome with emotion, a fan ran onto the field, tears streaming down his face, to embrace Rahul. The cricketer, understanding the significance of the moment for every Indian fan, didn’t push him away. Instead, Rahul hugged him. The video of the incident is now doing rounds on the Internet, winning plaudits for the Indian batter. Sharing the photo, an X user wrote, “just after India won, a fan entered the ground and hugged KL Rahul while crying, and Rahul hugged him back like his own teammate.” The viral footage captures the fan running past security toward Rahul and hugging him. The cricketer, clearly moved, shook hands with the fan and hugged him. Moments later, security arrived and quickly nabbed the fan. Watch here: just after India won, a fan entered the ground and hugged KL Rahul while crying and Rahul hugged him back like his own teammate 😭 pic.twitter.com/ocjXpJUtI9 — Sohom (@AwaaraHoon) March 4, 2025 Reacting to the video, a cricket enthusiast wrote, “crazy how he did it in Dubai who are very strict with rules, don't know what punishment he is gonna face.” Another user commented, “And as soon as I saw this guy! The only thing that came to my mind was how much fine will this guy pay for pitch invading in Dubai.” “He gets the most trolling but the nicest guy in the team,” a third user said.
