India and Pakistan’s contest at the Asia Cup took all the headlines, as bad blood from years of feuding, and the more recent confrontation earlier this year in the form of the Pahalgam terror attacks and Operation Sindoor, saw players on both sides playing with more hostility than usual.
In particular, Haris Rauf and Sahibzada Farhan made the headlines, as some of their celebrations made a mockery of the grave and fatal conflict in May 2025.
From the cricket pitch to the football field, from a senior match to an age-group contest, the same ferocity and hostility remained. Soon after the conclusion of that Asia Cup contest, India and Pakistan once again took each other on, this time in the SAFF U-17 Championship being played in Sri Lanka.
Playing in a Group B contest to decide who would qualify top of the group, India were leading 1-0, but fans noticed a particular celebration by Pakistan striker Muhammad Abdullah equalised from the penalty spot just before half-time.
Having netted after sending the Indian goalie the wrong way, Abdullah ran towards one corner and involved his teammates in a tea-drinking celebration. While it might appear innocuous on the surface, some fans realised how this celebration from the young striker might reference another infamous chapter in India and Pakistan’s military history.
The reference to tea was brought up first when Indian pilot Abhinandan Varthaman was captured in Pakistani territory during a skirmish in early 2019, after which he was held by the Pakistan army.
Striker also does a plane-crash celebration
A video was recorded, and it showed Group Captain Varthaman drinking tea and admitting that he was being treated well by his Pakistani captors, responding ‘The tea is fantastic.”
Abdullah was also seen mimicking a plane crashing to the ground as part of the same celebrations – a similar gesture to the one used by Haris Rauf to mock the claim that Pakistan had shot down six Indian fighter jets during the conflict earlier this year.
With the Pakistan players being the ones throwing stones, it might be of some pleasure to Indian fans to know that their representatives in Colombo fought back to have the last laugh, just as they did in Dubai a few hours earlier. India went back up 2-1 after half-time, Pakistan levelled again at 2-2, but a 74th-minute goal from Rahan Ahmed ensured that India left with the three points in this thrilling U-17 encounter.
India top the group with 9 points, and are set to play Nepal in their semifinal, while Pakistan will face Bangladesh. A rematch in the finals could be on the cards.