Pakistan’s players walked out against Hong Kong on Monday wearing shoes built by a rival’s biggest star. That rival has spent a decade trying to end their team’s tournament runs. It adds up to the funniest cross-brand accident of the Women’s Asia Cup.
The Shoes That Broke Cricket Twitter
Left-arm spinner Nashra Sandhu and batter Eymaan Fatima laced up Virat Kohli’s One8 Cover Drive 18X shoes during Pakistan’s group match with Hong Kong. Pakistan played that match at Dubai International Stadium, and the internet noticed before the team even finished batting. Clips of the footwear spread across social media within minutes.
Nothing moves cricket fans quite like an Indian icon’s sneakers turning up on a rival’s feet, especially during a knockout-stakes match.
Kohli is not just a face on the box here. He founded One8 years ago, then folded it into Agilitas Sports this past December. He put roughly $4.4 million of his own money into that deal, according to SportsPro, becoming an investor and co-founder of the parent company. The brand now spans athleisure, fragrances, and performance footwear. Apparently it is good enough that Pakistan’s own players reached for it mid-tournament.
Whether any of them planned that visual is a fair question. Whether it mattered once the ball started moving is not. Pakistan had a game to win and a national record waiting to fall.
There is also something almost fitting about it. Kohli built One8 on the idea that performance gear should work for anyone putting in the effort. It should not matter whose colors they wear. Pakistan’s players clearly agreed, rivalry or no rivalry.
Sandhu Rewrites the Record Book
Sandhu made sure the shoes were not the biggest story for long. She ripped through Hong Kong for a career-best 6 for 7 across four overs. According to the ICC, it is the first six-wicket haul by any Pakistan player in Women’s T20I history. It beat the previous national mark of 5 for 13, set by Omaima Sohail. Hong Kong lasted 19 overs before folding for 71.
Pakistan had put up 143 for 8 first. Shawaal Zulfiqar led the way with 47 off 35 balls, and captain Fatima Sana added 24. Ayesha Zafar chipped in 26 with the bat, then picked up a wicket of her own. She was one of four Pakistan bowlers who backed up Sandhu with a scalp apiece. The final margin was 72 runs, comfortable enough that the shoe story almost held its own next to it.
None of this erases what happened two days earlier, when India bowled Pakistan out for just 55. India cruised home by seven wickets behind Shree Charani and Prema Rawat, who did most of the damage with the ball. That result still stings, and it is the reason Pakistan finished second in Group A on four points, two behind India’s six.
Cricket has a short memory for group-stage blowouts once the bracket resets. Pakistan is through regardless, and it enters the knockout rounds playing its best cricket of the tournament. Sandhu’s spell is the kind of individual performance that can shift a team’s confidence for an entire knockout stretch, not just one afternoon.
| Group A Result | Score | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| India vs Pakistan (Sept 5) | Pakistan 55 all out | India won by 7 wickets |
| Pakistan vs Hong Kong (Sept 7) | Pakistan 143/8, Hong Kong 71 all out | Pakistan won by 72 runs |
Up next is Sri Lanka in the semi-final on Friday at Dubai International Stadium. India faces Bangladesh in the other semi a day earlier. Pakistan carries a bowling attack that just set a national record into that match. It also carries a middle order that finally found its rhythm against Hong Kong. That combination puts Pakistan in a far better place than most expected after the India result.
Kohli built a brand to sell people on looking fast on a cricket field. He probably did not picture it helping clinch a semi-final spot for the team standing between his own country and a rematch.
