During the qualifier 1 of the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL), held on Thursday, May 29, at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur, New Chandigarh, an action took place, sparking debates online.
Virat Kohli’s nice gesture toward debutant Musheer Khan became a sensation on social media following the Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) stunning eight-wicket victory over Punjab Kings (PBKS). PBKS summoned Musheer, who had still to play any match during the 2025 IPL season, as an impact replacement in the ninth over after Rajat Patidar won the toss and chose to bowl first.
Led by Shreyas Iyer, the team found themselves in a vulnerable situation, losing six wickets for just 60 runs, so they brought Musheer into the game. This was both his first official T20 game of his career and his IPL debut. Kohli seemed really startled to see the 20-year-old stepping up to bat as Musheer Khan walked toward the crease after Shashank Singh’s dismissal to Suyash Sharma’s bowling.
This made the said RCB man’s wrinkled gesture quickly trending on social media since many viewers speculated that Kohli was jokingly inferring that Musheer Khan used to act as a waterboy for the team. While it was quite evident from his actions that Kohli was letting the whole world know through his body language, the stump microphone failed to catch his spoken word.
However, judging from his actions, it looked like he was complaining that Musheer Khan had just been on the field giving drinks to the PBKS players. He was caught saying, “Only just now was he out there giving drinks to the PBKS players. Now, isn’t it just the timing that he’s made his debut?”
In the last minute, however, PBKS’s hopes of impacting with Musheer Khan fell just three short of scoring runs and eventually could not make a big impact upon his dismissal as Suyash caught him in front of the stumps.
