• Home
  • Match Hub
  • Fact Check Did Pathum Nissanka Emulate Hairs Raufs 6 0 Celebration Against India

Fact check: Did Pathum Nissanka emulate Hairs Rauf's '6-0' celebration against India?

Akshita Patel

Fact checking viral post on Pathum Nissanka's celebration [Source: @political_eye1/X.com]Fact checking viral post on Pathum Nissanka's celebration [Source: @political_eye1/X.com]

Sri Lankan opener Pathum Nissanka scored a record-breaking century against India in the Asia Cup 2025 Super Four clash on September 26. However, according to social media claims, the opener taunted India with a controversial ‘6-0’ gesture.

Chasing 203 runs, Nissanka came out with intent, hammering the Indian pace attack to bring up a 71-run powerplay. He went on to score his maiden T20I ton and finished with 107 off 58 balls with 7 fours, 6 sixes and 184.48 strike rate.

Pathum Nissanka allegedly mocked India with a controversial gesture

However, according to several social media users, Pathum Nissanka mocked India with the controversial ‘6-0’ celebration soon after reaching his hundred. A picture of Nissanka emulating Pakistani speedster Haris Rauf’s controversial gesture went viral on social media.

Viral claim on Pathum Nissanka's celebration [Source: @political_eye1/X.com]Viral claim on Pathum Nissanka's celebration [Source: @political_eye1/X.com]

But that picture is not real. The post has been fabricated and photoshopped to spread a false narrative against India ahead of the Asia Cup 2025 final against Pakistan.

In the real video, Pathum Nissanka celebrated his milestone by looking up in the sky with hand gestures and kissing his helmet before raising his bat. Not once does the Sri Lankan opener appear to gesture any numbers to mock India.

What is the story behind the ‘6-0’ gesture?

The whole issue escalated when Pakistani speedster Haris Rauf did the ‘6-0’ celebration during the Asia Cup 2025 Super Four clash against India on September 21.

His gesture was based on the false claims of Indian armed forces losing 6 fighter jets during the Operation Sindoor war with Pakistan. Rauf’s actions went viral, and the BCCI filed an official complaint against the pacer.

The ICC called a hearing and deemed Haris Rauf guilty of all charges. However, given the fact that this is his first offence, ICC imposed a fine of 30% match fees and warned him against repeating any such gestures in the future.