Tempers flared on the field during the Asia Cup 2025 Super Four clash between India and Pakistan at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday (September 21).
It was all started with Sahibzada Farhan’s provocative gestures in Pakistan’s innings. The opening batter performed a gun-shot celebration after hitting a half-century.
Later in the game, Haris Rauf made several gestures near the boundary line towards the Indian fans. The fast bowler made airplane-crashing gestures, alluding to Pakistan’s imaginary claim of downing 6 Indian Rafale jets during the recent battle in May after Operation Sindoor.
However, all their cheap antics backfired as India won the match by six wickets while chasing a competitive target of 172.
The opening pair of Abhishek Sharma (74 off 39) and Shubman Gill (47 off 28) took the Pakistani bowling attack to the cleaners while also having a verbal battle with them, sharing a fiery 105-run stand to put the Men in Blue on the brink of victory.
After their dismissals, Tilak Varma rose to the occasion and played an unbeaten knock of 30 in 19 balls to take India over the finishing line with seven deliveries to spare.
Reflecting on the match, former Pakistan spinner Danish Kaneria minced no words as he said the Abhishek-Shubman duo launched BrahMos on the arch-rivals after Farhan’s gun-shot celebration.
"Sahibzada Farhan signalled an AK-47, but then Shubman Gill and Abhishek Sharma launched a BrahMos of their own with the bat - and Sharma even followed it with a flying kiss. That's how you do it. The Indian openers' counterattack was so destructive that Pakistan players were left bamboozled. There's 'dhulai' and then there's 'maha dhulai'. This was the latter," Kaneria told IANS.
He further added, "When you have players like Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill as openers, even 200 can look like a small total against them on such a wicket. Both are class players."
Kaneria also slammed Pakistan's tendency to look for scapegoats after a defeat, highlighting the conspiracy theories around Fakhar Zaman's dismissal.
Fakhar was removed by Hardik Pandya in the third over of the game. The southpaw looked in good touch as he took down Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik in the first couple of overs. However, Hardik had the last laugh as he dismissed the Pakistan batter for 15 runs.
Fakhar edged a delivery to wicketkeeper Sanju Samson. The on-field umpire ruled him out, but the left-hander hung around and the decision was deferred to third umpire Ruchira Palliyaguruge to check whether the catch was clean.
The ball appeared very close to the ground before going into the gloves. Palliyaguruge saw replays from different angles and eventually came to a conclusion that the catch was fair, as Samson’s fingers were underneath the ball.
"Now Pakistan will look for another scapegoat, and they've found one in Fakhar Zaman's dismissal. He'll cry now, saying he wasn't out. But it was a clear and clean catch by Sanju Samson - the gloves were clearly underneath the ball. And yet Pakistan will surely cry over it, talking about 'benefit of doubt.' Fakhar will cling to this excuse," Kaneria remarked.
Pakistan are facing a must-win situation in the remaining Super 4 fixtures to stay alive in the tournament. The Men in Green will take on Sri Lanka in their next match in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday (September 23).
