A Romanian cricketer known for sending social media wild has gone viral again with a bizarre celebration in a European competition.
Global cricket sensation Pavel Florin has done it again, taking social media by storm with another bizarre celebration.
The Romanian first came to prominence in 2019 when a video him bowling in the European Cricket League (ECL) went viral, with fans bemused by his unique bowling action.
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He was then invited to play in Australia and played for Surrey Hills cricket club in Victoria in 2019.
And earlier this year, Florin made headlines again after he took a wicket in a T10 game in the ECL, running to the commentary box and shouting his teammates’ names into a microphone.
Now the off-spinner has attracted attention for another bizarre celebration, this time in the T10 European Cricket Championship being held in Spain at the moment.
Batting at number 11 for Romania in its pool match against Hungary earlier this week, Florin hit a boundary off the last ball of the innings to finish four not out and take his team’s total to 93 runs.
Going for broke, the 42-year-old moved across the crease and exposed his stumps before flicking a low full toss off his pads to the square leg boundary.
Florin immediately went down on one knee and swung his bat around wildly in a windmill-style motion, much to the delight of his Romanian teammates, who went berserk.
As Romania was batting first, viewers were perplexed as to what exactly Florin was celebrating, but it became clear he was commemorating the first boundary he has ever hit in the tournament.
“You’d think he’d won the watch, he’s hit a boundary!” a commentator said.
“It’s his first boundary in the European Cricket Championship. He didn’t hit a boundary in the ECL either,” another commentator explained.
“Pavel, he’s loving life isn’t he. He takes them into the 90s and a lot of relief on his face.”
Pavel was clearly very pleased with his milestone, posting a video of the moment to his social media channels.
“It’s my first boundary in the European Cricket Championship so a celebration is needed!” he said.
The celebration was reminiscent of a similar display by India’s S. Sreesanth in a Test match against South Africa.
After paceman Andre Nel accused him for lacking courage against short-pitched bowling, Sreesanth charged down the pitch and smashed Nel’s next ball for six, before whirling his bat and dancing.
But Florin didn’t have much to cheer about apart from his boundary.
Romania lost the match against Hungary and failed to progress out of the group stage of the 15-nation European competition.
Florin took to social media to express his frustration at not being selected in his country’s team for most of the matches.
He only bowled one over in the entire tournament and said he was “unhappy” he wasn’t given more of an opportunity to prove himself.