India assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate praised the Men in Blue players for how they carried themselves against Pakistan in the recent Asia Cup 2025 Super Four match on September 21 on Sunday.
He also spoke about the provocative gestures made by Sahibzada Farhan and Haris Rauf’s multiple altercations with Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill, and his gestures towards Indian fans near the boundary.
When Sahibzada Farhan reached his fiftieth birthday, he was the first to pull out the gun for the celebration. He fired imaginary shots into the air while wielding his bat like a gun. Given that a terrorist assault in Pahalgam, Kashmir, earlier this year claimed 26 lives, the Pakistan opener's actions were obviously callous.
Then, Haris Rauf gestured 6-0 in the direction of the audience. When India struck terrorist sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) during Operation Sindoor earlier this year, Pakistan claimed to have shot down six Indian fighter jets. Additionally, the pacer transmitted signs of the downing of fighter jets.
These actions did not affect the Indian team, as Abhishek’s 74 and Shubman’s 47 helped India chase the 172-run target against Pakistan in Dubai with 6 wickets in hand.
"Let me just say, the amount of pressure that's been heaped on the players because of the situation makes it very difficult to control their behavior. I did see some of the things Haris did, and, you know, that's not our concern. Like I said earlier, we're really proud of how the guys carried themselves; you know, they were on fire with their bats on the field. You know, how the teams showed their ambitions," ten Doeschate told reporters on Tuesday, as per Times of India.
Ten Doeschate added that the globe is aware of the Pakistani pacers' constant chirping and what they were attempting to do. He did, however, say that he is really proud of his opening batsmen, Gill and Abhishek, for providing a suitable response with the bat.
“I'll say, given the situation, you can see why guys are behaving and what they're trying to portray. But we were very focused on how we wanted to play. I think we stuck to the cricket really well. It would have been easy to lose our minds at that point, given the celebration as well. Some of the words during the game were from the Pakistan bowling unit, but I thought the guys stuck really well to the task of getting the job done and winning the game," said ten Doeschate.
India will now take on Bangladesh in their next Super 4s match on Wednesday, September 24, at the Dubai International Stadium.
