Pakistan opener Sahibzada Farhan has spoken out about his controversial gun celebration against India during Sunday's Super 4s match in the Asia Cup 2025. In the tenth over of the game, Farhan smashed a six off Axar Patel to reach fifty and chose to celebrate in a special way.
The opener pointed to the dugout, gripped his bat like a gun, and imitated firing it. The celebration sparked a social media frenzy and was widely viewed as offensive. Farhan discussed the celebration during the press conference for the Pakistan vs Sri Lanka game, stating that it was something he did at the moment.
According to the 29-year-old, the idea simply struck him and he doesn't care about what people think. The opener emphasized that he wants his team to keep playing aggressive cricket, similar to how they did against India in the opening ten overs.
"I think, if you talk about the sixes, you will see that (a lot) in the future. And that (celebration) was just a moment at that time. I do not do a lot of celebrations after scoring 50. But, it suddenly came to my mind that let's do a celebration today. I did that. I don't know how people will take it. I don't care about that. And the rest, you know, you should play aggressive cricket wherever you play. It is not necessary that it is India. You should play aggressive cricket against every team, like we played today,” Farhan told reporters after the match.
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As Pakistan amassed 171 runs batting first, the opener scored 58 runs off 45 balls. The knock, however, went in vain as India defeated Pakistan by six wickets.
On social media, the opener wasn't the only Pakistani player who received backlash for his actions. As a result of his proactive fighter aircraft gesture in response to Virat Kohli's cheers, Haris Rauf also became the subject of controversy.
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