Desk Report:
There has been a lot of controversy over several issues in the India-Pakistan match in this year’s Asia Cup. However, Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha wants to avoid all the controversies with the final in mind. He is focusing fully on defeating India in the final and winning the title.
India and Pakistan will face off in the title match tomorrow at 8:30 pm in Dubai. Before that, Salman attended a press conference today and said, “We don’t want to focus on things that are not under our control. Media reports, outside discussions – we are avoiding all these. Our main goal is the Asia Cup. We are here to play good cricket. We want to win the Asia Cup tomorrow.”
The Pakistan captain is quite confident about the team, “Insha Allah, you will see us win the Asia Cup. If we can play our best cricket and dominate 40 overs, we can beat any team.”
Despite speaking in a confident tone, the statistics do not speak for Pakistan. They have lost each of the previous two matches against India in this year’s Asia Cup. India defeated them by 7 wickets in the group stage match. Then in the Super Four
Pakistan lost to their arch-rivals by 6 wickets. The incident of not shaking hands and the celebration of Haris Rauf and Sahibzada Farhan became the topic of discussion, leaving aside the field game. Suryakumar Yadav’s team did not shake hands with the Pakistani players at first glance.
There was a lot of drama later on regarding the matter. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) demanded the removal of Andy Pycroft on charges of favoritism. When the ICC did not accept that demand, Pakistan was on the verge of boycotting the match against the United Arab Emirates as previously announced. However, they finally took to the field. The controversy did not stop there. After scoring fifty in the last four match against India, Sahibzada turned his bat into a gun and pretended to pull the trigger. Then, Rauf went down to field and gestured to the Indian spectators in the gallery to crash the plane.
India and Pakistan were embroiled in a military conflict when 26 tourists were killed in a terrorist attack in Pahalgam. Several countries’ media outlets claim that Pakistan shot down six Rafale jets of its neighboring country in the war. This is what Rauf was trying to convey. India has filed a complaint with the ICC against Sahibzada and Rauf for celebrating in this way.
