NEW DELHI: While several players have been celebrating milestones with the now-viral ‘chit celebration’ – pulling out handwritten notes from their pockets after key moments – Deepak Chahar came up with his own hilarious take on the trend during Mumbai Indians’s clash against Kolkata Knight Riders.Defending 147/8, Chahar began the innings under pressure as KKR opener Finn Allen smashed him for back-to-back boundaries. But the MI pacer bounced back on the final delivery of the over by dismissing Allen.What followed grabbed everyone’s attention.After taking the wicket, Chahar pretended to pull out an imaginary chit from his pocket and pointed towards the crowd. His teammates, expecting him to actually produce a note, burst into laughter when they realised there was no chit at all.The ‘chit celebration’ has emerged as one of the biggest trends of IPL 2026. It all started when Abhishek Sharma celebrated his whirlwind century by taking out a handwritten note that read: “This one is for Orange Army.”Since then, several players have joined the trend, including Urvil Patel from Chennai Super Kings, Raghu Sharma from Mumbai Indians, and most recently Akash Maharaj Singh.However, the celebrations have also drawn criticism from former cricketers.Ambati Rayudu termed it “rubbish and nonsense” and questioned why players were carrying chits in their pockets during matches.Former New Zealand pacer Mitchell McClenaghan said he was “flabbergasted” by the trend.Meanwhile, former South Africa fast bowler Dale Steyn also mocked the celebrations on social media, writing: “Time to put the papers away. It ain’t trending no more. Actually, to be honest, never really was.”As for the match, Mumbai Indians struggled to put together a competitive total and managed only 147/8 in 20 overs after being sent in to bat.Already eliminated from the playoff race, MI never recovered after slipping to 41/4 inside six overs.Hardik Pandya (26) and Tilak Varma (20) tried to rebuild with a 43-run partnership, but it was Corbin Bosch’s unbeaten 32 off 18 balls that helped Mumbai get close to the 150-run mark.For KKR, Saurabh Dubey (2/34), Cameron Green (2/23), Kartik Tyagi (2/37) and Sunil Narine (1/13) starred with the ball.
