India Vs Pakistan: Ishan Kishan, Rapper Hanumankind Share Happy Moment

2026-02-16 02:24:12

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Perhaps no one saw this collaboration coming. Two stars of the evening at Colombo's Premadasa Stadium came together for a photograph. Shortly after, Indian cricketer Ishan Kishan gifted a jersey to Sooraj Cherukat, known professionally as Hanumankind.

The rapper had just set the stadium grooving with a performance for the ages on Sunday ahead of the marquee T-20 cricket match between arch-rivals India and Pakistan.

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Hanumankind performed some of his biggest hits such as Big Dawgs. He, however, gave his title track from the Bollywood spy thriller Dhurandhar-a chartbuster-the miss.

Kishan, however, looked along gleefully. As the rapper finished, the Indian batter stepped out to give him a hug and present the jersey.

The International Cricket Council shared a post of a beaming Kishan greeting Hanumankind and presenting him with the jersey. "Two of a kind," it captioned the post.

As the performance ended, the cricketers took over. And Kishan was one of the evening's stand-out performers, with a match-winning knock.

India, led by Suryakumar Yadav, scored 175-7 in their allotted 20 overs, thanks to a flying start by Kishan's brilliant 77 off 40 deliveries, and then bowled out Pakistan for 114 in 18 overs. India's Hardik Pandya, pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah and Varun Chakravarthy claimed two wickets apiece.

The victory marked India's eighth in their nine T20 World Cup meetings with Pakistan, pitchforking them into the Super Eight stage.

This is not the first time the International Cricket Council has arranged musical performances ahead of India-Pakistan matches in cricket world cups. Bollywood singing sensation Arijit Singh enthralled audiences ahead of their cricketing encounter in the 2023 World Cup. Other leading singers such as Sukhwinder Singh, Sunidhi Chauhan and Shankar Mahadevan, too, performed on the occasion.

Born in Kerala, Hanumankind spent his formative years in India, the US, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar... and Dubai. His first single Daily Dose in 2019 was popularly received. He also acted in the 2024 Malayalam film Rifle Club directed by Aashiq Abu.