Pakistani pacer Shaheen Afridi broke his silence on the provocative gestures made by Haris Rauf and Sahibzada Farhan’s ‘gun-firing’ celebrations in their 6-wicket loss to India in the recent Asia Cup 2025 Super Fours game in Dubai on Sunday.
Rauf was seen making a ‘6-0’ gesture towards the Indian crowd near the boundary and also made gestures of planes crashing and laughing while doing so. Sahibzada Farhan, on the other hand, made gun-firing gestures to celebrate his half-century against India in the match.
Both were alluding to the recent military fight between India and Pakistan in May this year. India launched Operation Sindoor on Pakistan, attacking their air bases, while Pakistan launched drone attacks on Indian cities. The Indian Air Force also attacked the Pakistani air bases, downing several of their planes.
On the other hand, Pakistan claimed to have shot down 6 Rafale jets of India, despite no proof of that happening, and even the Rafale jet makers clarifying that none of their planes were hit.
However, this instigating behavior by Pakistani players on the field came into question by several experts, and former cricketers slammed them for the same. This was also due to the no-handshake policy adopted by the Indian team, as they didn’t shake hands with their Pakistani counterparts in both games so far.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Shaheen admitted that on-field celebrations and behavior aren't the best traits of the current Pakistan team.
"Look, our job is to play cricket. Honestly, we are very poor at these things," Shaheen told reporters when asked about the criticism that Haris and Sahibzada have received for their acts against India.
Shaheen used the statement "Everyone has their own thoughts" to minimize the controversy produced by Pakistan's on-field behavior.
"Everyone has their own respect. Everyone thinks the way they think. But our job is to play cricket. And we have come to win the tri-nation series. We have come to win the Asia Cup. And we, God willing, as a team, are doing our best," he further said.
In the current Asia Cup, Pakistan has already lost to India twice in a row. On September 28, the two teams may face each other again in the event final.
Shaheen voiced confidence in his team's ability to eventually upset India if the two sides play in the title decider on Sunday, even though none of the finalists have been announced yet.
"They have not reached the final yet. We will see when they reach the final. We have come here to win the final and win the Asia Cup. We are ready for any team that comes. We will defeat them. Yes, we haven't won against big teams. You can say that we have grown in the rankings. But when you play against big teams, you win. The teams that are coming now, we are competing against them," Shaheen stated.
Pakistan has one game left in the Super Fours, against Bangladesh on September 25.
(PTI inputs)
