During the Asia Cup 2025 Group A clash between India and Pakistan at the Dubai International Stadium, the on-field result may have been lopsided, but a string of off-field incidents stole the spotlight: Players from the two sides walked off without the customary handshakes. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) viewed this as disrespectful and formally complained to the International Cricket Council (ICC), demanding the removal of match referee Andy Pycroft. But that wasn't even the most embarrassing tale.
Before the first ball was bowled, the stadium DJ accidentally played the opening bars of Jalebi Baby, the hit track by Tesher and Jason Derulo, instead of Pakistan’s national anthem. The pop song rang out for roughly six seconds before the correct anthem resumed. Pakistan's team was visibly embarrassed and the incident elicited a reaction out of the singer himself.
On his Instagram story, Tesher gave a "shout out to the sound guy for messing up the anthem" and "making this an absolutely hilarious day" for him.
"Accidents happen to the best of us, God bless u whoever you are," he wrote.
Teshar also shared a video on Instagram with the caption, “Jalebi Baby is always the right anthem.”
In the video, he is seen saying, “When I said Jalebi Baby was an anthem, this is not what I had in mind" before bursting into laughter.
"International beizzati ho gaya," one commented.
"Bro will make the next world cup anthem now," wrote another in comments.
That was not the end of it. Pakistan lost to India as India reached its target of 127 runs in less than 16 overs, leading cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar to roast them as well.
“I don’t know whether Ajay [Jadeja], Irfan [Pathan] and Veeru [Sehwag] will agree with me or not. But I have been watching Pakistan’s team since 1960, when I used to run from Churchgate station to Brabourne Stadium to see Hanif Mohammad sahab. And this time in this match, for the first time after years, I felt that this is not Pakistan’s team, this is some Popatwadi team,” Sunil remarked.
Some days end on a bitter note, and on others, only the sweetness of a jalebi can soften the sting of such a defeat.
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