Why is Nana Patekar trending on social media after Virat Kohli's century against Pakistan?

On Sunday, Virat Kohli played a match-winning knock of an unbeaten 100* against Pakistan in the Champions Trophy 2025 match.

Published - 23 Feb 2025, 23:59 IST | Updated - 24 Feb 2025, 00:22 IST

6 Min Read

Why is Nana Patekar trending on social media after Virat Kohli's century against Pakistan?

Renowned actor Nana Patekar took over the social media domain like a 'bolt from the blue' after India batting stalwart Virat Kohli smashed his 51st ODI century against the archrivals Pakistan in Match 5 of the Champions Trophy 2025. Both sides collided on a blockbuster Sunday on February 23, in Dubai.

The iconic actor was trending due to Bollywood nostalgia coupled with cricket fanverse. Notably, Team India defeated Pakistan by six wickets and it was the chase master Kohli who played a match-winning knock to hand the Green Shirts yet another defeat in the ICC mega event. This triggered the fans to come up with some astonishing creativity in the form of memes on various social media platforms, especially on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Kohli scored match-winning century, fans rejoice with Patekar's dialogues

During the high-octane game, the former Indian captain remained unbeaten on 100* off 111 balls. On this achievement, several fans thronged to social media and connected with Nana Patekar in witty conversations. Known for his iconic dialogues and roles in Bollywood movies, fans took famous dialogues from movies like "Krantiveer and Welcome," to describe Virat Kohli's dominance on the neighbours across the border.

Some fans mentioned the "Control Uday, control!" dialogue from the renowned comedy movie, Welcome, to describe Pakistan's lacklustre bowling. As a result, Nana Patekar started trending like wildfire as a light side of India and Pakistan rivalry thoroughly entertained the cricket fans on both sides of the border.

This serves as the perfect example of how Bollywood and cricket come together aka cultural crossover to celebrate India's victory in big matches while comparing Nana Patekar's acting legacy to Kohli's batting legacy on the field.