‘Idolo’: Kuldeep Yadav Shares His Dream Encounter With Lionel Messi

Kuldeep Yadav ticked off a once-in-a-lifetime dream — meeting Lionel Messi during the football icon’s GOAT Tour of India in Delhi.

A massive football fan, the Indian wrist-spinner was part of a promotional shoot with Messi and made the most of it, snapping pictures and sharing a brief interaction with the Argentine legend.

Hay un lenguaje que compartimos, se llama «Controlar el balón»

[There’s a language we share, it’s called “Controlling the Ball”

Idolo♥️

@TeamMessi @adidas pic.twitter.com/HYMtZLzi8t

— Kuldeep yadav (@imkuldeep18) December 20, 2025

“There’s a language we share — controlling the ball,” Kuldeep wrote on X, summing up the moment alongside a heart emoji for his idol.

The Delhi leg of the tour was star-studded, with Messi joined by Luis

Suárez and Rodrigo De Paul. Indian sporting icons Renuka Thakur, Nikhat Zareen, Sumit Antil and Nishad Kumar were also part of the shoot.

At the Arun Jaitley Stadium, ICC chairman Jay Shah presented customised India jerseys to Messi (No. 10), Suárez (No. 9) and De Paul (No. 7), and even handed Messi an invitation to the upcoming T20 World Cup.

Messi also met Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and DDCA president Rohan Jaitley before wrapping up the tour with an emotional message.

“I just want to thank everyone for the love and affection during these days in India. In fact, it was a truly beautiful experience for us to be able to share it,” Messi stated.

“And although it was short and intense, it was wonderful to receive all this love that I knew existed, but receiving it directly was amazing. It was a crazy experience, everything they did for us these days.

“So, we carry all this love with us, and we will definitely return, hopefully one day to play a match or on another occasion, but we will definitely return to visit India. Thank you very much,” he added.