Battling Health Issues, Mohammad Bashir AKA Chacha Chicago Prays For India vs Pakistan Final

Mohammad Bashir, popular in cricketing circles as Chacha Chicago, is battling health issues. That has not dented his love and enthusiasm for cricket as he prays for India's win today to set up a final clash with Pakistan.

New Delhi/Chicago/Adelaide: Mohammed Bashir, also known as Chacha Chicago, needs no introduction to cricket. You will hardly get a cricket fan who would not recognise the white-bearded man holding Pakistan’s flag in the stands in the good old days. Cut to 2022, Mohammed Bashir Bozai is more of an India-Pakistan supporter who is seen holding an India-Pakistan flag — his love for MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, and other Indian cricketers transcend border in true sportsman spirit.

When the whole world is busy with the T20 World Cup, a die-hard cricket fan, Chacha Chicago is battling with blood pressure issues and is hospitalized for the last 5 days. Chacha, who is often seen cheering for India and Pakistan in the stadium, is arguably the biggest Indian cricket fan from Pakistan.

Mohammed Bashir aka Chacha Chicago had an exclusive conversation with India.com and promised to be in Melbourne if India make it to the T20 World Cup 2022 final, to set up an India vs Pakistan summit clash at Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne. Mohammed Bashir wished India luck for their semifinal clash with England.

Chacha Chicago came into the limelight during the ICC World Cup 2011 when MS Dhoni gave him a ticket for the semifinal clash against Pakistan in Mohali. Chacha had a meltdown after MS Dhoni’s great gesture and became a huge admirer of the former India skipper. Post the 2011 World Cup, Chacha also started supporting the Indian cricket team and started wearing a special customized jersey of India and Pakistan flags.

Coming back to the T20 World Cup semifinal, clashes between England and India in T20Is have been frequent and competitive in the past few years, including in the bilateral series in July. But the teams have not met in a T20 World Cup match for a decade, or in the knockout phase of an ICC tournament since the 2013 Champions Trophy final.

While India entered the knockouts on the back of superlative batting from Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav and hugely effective bowling attack in Arshdeep Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Hardik Pandya and Ravichandran Ashwin, England had a horrid start to the tournament as they shockingly lost to Ireland but bounced back to beat New Zealand and Sri Lanka to book a berth in the semis.