Hyderabad: Former India opener Shikhar Dhawan visited the Indian dressing room as a guest who will award a traditional field medal to the winner after India's clinical victory over the arch-rivals Pakistan by six wickets in the Champions Trophy 2025 match at Dubai International Stadium in Dubai on Monday, February 23.
The tradition of awarding field medals was introduced by fielding coach T Dilip during the ODI World Cup for the best fielder of the day. The Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) have been sharing a video of the ceremony which happens after every match in ICC events and a bilateral series and this time with Dhawan's presence it became a lively affair.
𝗗𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗥𝗼𝗼𝗺 𝗕𝗧𝗦 | 𝗙𝗶𝗲𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵 | #PAKvIND
— BCCI (@BCCI) February 24, 2025
A man with a golden bat and a golden heart 🤗
When ‘Mr. ICC’ turned up in #TeamIndia’s dressing room to present the fielding medal 😎
WATCH 🎥🔽 #ChampionsTrophyhttps://t.co/k2kXs5CSRG
Everyone present in the dressing looked happy with the result and India's near-certain progression to the semi-finals, having dealt a nearly decisive blow to their arch-rivals.
An ambassador for the Champions Trophy 2025, Dhawan made the surprise entry in the dressing room. Dressed in a cream-coloured blazer and white shirt, accessorised with a silver necklace, the southpaw batter exuded the same confidence that defined his playing days.
Virat Kohli, the man of the moment, couldn’t contain his laughter at Dhawan’s swagger. Dhawan even performed his signature thigh-five, joined by Ravindra Jadeja. Kohli and Jadeja were delighted to reunite with their former teammate, a prolific run-getter in ICC tournaments. Notably, Dhawan, who is also renowned as Mr. ICC, is the only batter to win consecutive and two golden bat awards in Champions Trophy history. The golden bat is usually awarded to the player who has been awarded to the player with the most runs in the tournament.
The 39-year-old ultimately awarded the fielding medal to Axar Patel, who produced two crucial run-outs against Pakistan including a direct throw to dismiss the southpaw opener Imam-Ul-Haq. Axar dismissed opener Imam-ul-Haq with a direct hit. Axar edged out Ravindra Jadeja and Shreyas Iyer, his fellow contenders, to claim the fielding medal for the high-stakes game.
"I think the way we cut the angles was excellent. The feedback from KL (wicketkeeper) was that the accuracy of the throws was amazing," Dilip said, lauding the players’ efforts.
