Fans flood Hyderabad streets after India’s ICC victory, police disperse gathering by force

Large number of people poured onto Hyderabad streets to celebrate India’s victory over New Zealand in ICC Champions Trophy on March 9, 2025.
| Photo Credit: By Arrangement

India’s victory over New Zealand in the ICC Champions Trophy final on Sunday (March 9, 2025) night set off wild celebrations across the country.

In Hyderabad, ecstatic cricket fans poured into the streets, cheering, dancing and bursting crackers at various locations including the State Secretariat and Kukatpally and other residential areas.

However, as the crowd on the Pune-Machilipatnam Highway swelled, the situation quickly got out of hand, forcing the police to resort to a lathi charge to disperse the revellers under the Dilsukhnagar Metro Station. Videos of police personnel chasing people have since gone viral on social media.

Inspector V. Saidi Reddy of the Saroornagar police said that around 5,000 people, mostly students from nearby hostels, had gathered on the national highway, blocking traffic, including ambulances. “They took over the road and even climbed RTC buses to celebrate the victory,” he said. “We had to step in to clear the congestion, as it was causing major inconvenience to commuters and delaying an ambulance caught in the traffic,” clarified the official.