India’s emphatic victory over Pakistan in Sunday’s Champions Trophy match set off nationwide celebrations. The long-standing cricket rivalry between the two nations was once again in the spotlight, with fans flooding social media to applaud team India, particularly Virat Kohli, whose crucial century played a decisive role in securing an easy win.
Amid the joyous reactions, another unexpected figure found himself trending — Abhay Singh, an aerospace engineer-turned-sadhu known as ‘IITian Baba’. During a previous podcast appearance, he had confidently stated that India had no chance of winning against Pakistan.
IITian Baba said during the podcast, “Iss bar India nahi jeetegi. Virat Kohli aur sabko bol do ki jeet ke dikha dein. Maine bola nahi jeetegi India toh nahi jeetegi.” (India will not win this time. Tell Virat Kohli and Co to try their best to win but they won’t be able to win. If I say they won’t win, they won’t win.)
https://x.com/delphic_RS/status/1893619106256978377
As soon as India clinched the victory, social media erupted with memes trolling him, with many urging podcast hosts to refrain from inviting him in the future, calling him a fraud.
Here are some selected reactions:
https://x.com/delphic_RS/status/1893703564045775019
https://x.com/kesarinakha/status/1893697400448909533
https://x.com/sagarcasm/status/1893709224183574856
https://x.com/himanshu_zerO9/status/1893699442198426108
Prafull Billore, the entrepreneur behind the MBA Chai Wala Group, also joined the online banter. He humorously stepped down from his so-called title of being unlucky for team India, suggesting that IITian Baba could now take over the role.
https://x.com/pbillore141/status/1893709705412796674
A large number of social media users demanded that Abhay Singh stops making predictions, urging him to stay out of the limelight. Responding to the widespread backlash, he took to social media to apologize for his incorrect prediction and shared images of Virat Kohli and the Indian team celebrating their win.
He tweeted, “I want to publicly apologize and ask each one of you all to celebrate, it’s party time… Mujhe man hi man pata tha ki india jetega”
https://x.com/Abhay245456/status/1893705169231089694
What was the need for IITian Baba to make such prediction?
