Ishan Kishan's rare India-Pakistan moment with Mohammad Abbas in County clash draws mixed reactions; fans react

Out-of-contention Ishan Kishan became a victim of social media backlash after the India wicketkeeper was pictured hugging Pakistan's Mohammad Abbas during a County Championship match on Monday. The clip went viral in no time and set the internet abuzz, months after India's military showdown against Pakistan, named as Operation Sindoor, in retaliation to the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22.

The incident took place after Abbas and Kishan, playing for Nottinghamshire, combined to dismiss Yorkshire's Adam Lyth for a golden duck. Abbas, who has played 30 international games (27 Tests and 3 ODIs) for Pakistan, dished out a length delivery for Lyth.

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The ball took an outside edge for Kishan to do the rest behind the stumps. What followed was the Indian hugging his Pakistani teammate, not knowing that it would divide the internet. While most fans found the moment heartwarming, several called for boycotting Kishan.

How the fans reacted to Kishan-Abbas moment

Why Kishan-Abbas is a rare Indo-Pak moment? The Kishan-Abbas moment grabbed attention as they became the sixth India-Pakistan pair to play for a same team in county cricket. The first India-Pakistan pair to play for the same team in county cricket was when Bishan Singh Bedi played for Northamptonshire alongside Mushtaq Mohammad and Sarfraz Nawaz in 1970s.

Zaheer Khan and Azhar Mahmood (2004), Harbhajan Singh and Azhar Mahmood/Mohammad Akram (2005) and Anil Kumble and Azhar Mahmood/Mohammad Akram (2006) - all for Surrey. Cheteshwar Pujara and Mohammad Rizwan were a part of Sussex in 2022.

Ishan Kishan shines on County debut Making his debut in county cricket, Kishan gave BCCI selectors heads up with a brilliant 87 off 98 balls while batting down the order for Northamptonshire. Captain Haseeb Hameed (52), Ben Slater (96), Liam Patterson-White (87) and Dillon Pennington (61) also scored half-centuries as Northamptonshire piled up 487 in the first innings.

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