Asia Cup: India vs Pakistan - How the celebrations from Haris Rauf and Sahibzada Farhan backfired for Pakistan

Shortly after India had registered another comfortable win against Pakistan in the Asia Cup, Suryakumar Yadav rubbished the talks about 'rivalry, pointing at recent data to prove his point. Now, his theory is debatable, because historical rivalry is defined across generations and hence, it could be unfair to use the current era as a barometer for the same. However, regardless of his methods, the one thing Suryakumar is right about, is regarding the gulf in class between the two teams at the moment. 

On Sunday (September 21), India were far from their best with the ball and in the field. The fielding and most importantly, the catching was atrocious. About an hour into the game, it felt like Suryakumar's men were probably complacent about the game. Even the great Jasprit Bumrah recorded his joint-worst T20I figures and his worst PowerPlay figures in the game. Despite committing so many mistakes, India weren't punished severely. Remember, Pakistan's top-scorer Sahibzada Farhan was dropped in the very first over of the game by Abhishek Sharma who put down a sharp chance at third man. 

At the halfway mark, Pakistan were sitting pretty at 91/1 with Farhan still in the hangover of his fifty celebration and Saim Ayub having gotten a start. Given India's blips in the field and tactical errors, Pakistan should have posted a total in excess of 185 from that point. Yes, the pitch wasn't easy to score off against the older ball but even then, their shocking slowdown after the drinks break was inexplicable. Why did this happen? It must be noted that their decision-making in the previous India-Pakistan game was also poor, in fact much worse. In such a high-pressure game where there is a lot at stake, decision-making is everything and to get that right, you need to have a clear mind. 

Even before a ball was bowled, Pakistan's claim to fame for this game was Haris Rauf's provocative words to Indian fans during his team's practice session. Rauf was constantly gesturing '6-0' to support his country's claims of having taken down Indian fighter jets during the recent political escalations between the two countries. He also made gestures about planes/jets going down. If anything, it seemed like his mind was on triggering the opposition fans instead of focusing on his game. Maybe, his pre-game antics could have been excused as desperate attempts to pump himself but when Pakistan came on to bowl, Rauf completely lost the plot. 

Rauf's first over went for 12, including two boundaries of which one came off a thick outside edge. The other boundary, though, was a trademark Shubman Gill pull shot off the front foot that had a stamp of ruthlessness to it. Clearly, it triggered Rauf who exchanged words with non-striker Abhishek Sharma. The left-hander had already got into a war of words with Shaheen Afridi earlier and was in no mood to let Rauf settle down. Even when he was fielding near the fence, Rauf's only retort to the trolls from Indian fans was to gesture provocatively. Whether this was his own decision or him following orders from the PCB, we'll never know. What we do know is that all this did nothing except make him fragile temperamentally in such a marquee clash. 

Earlier in the evening, Farhan rode his luck after being dropped and brought up his fifty with a fantastic shot over deep mid-wicket. It was some shot to get to fifty and warranted a massive celebration, no doubt. However, Farhan took the same route as Rauf, opting for a politically flavoured method to celebrate. He took his bat and mocked a gun firing celebration by looking firmly at the Indian dug out. It was clearly a tone beyond cricket. After the drinks break, Farhan only faced another eight deliveries of the 25 that were bowled in his presence, and could muster only six more runs. He struggled for momentum and his dismissal, with the bat flying off his hand, summed up his struggles.

With better clarity in thinking and a calm mind, Farhan could have batted deeper into the innings and caused havoc. Especially because Bumrah had only over left and India had to use Shivam Dube/Hardik Pandya during the death overs. Instead, Farhan's clouded mind compounded the struggles on a pitch that was already getting tougher against the softer ball. As for Rauf, he hasn't been the same since the famous MCG game between the two sides in the 2022 T20 World Cup. Still, as a senior bowler, this was his chance to make a statement, particularly as he wasn't picked in the initial games of the tournament. Instead, Rauf was too overwhelmed by the occasion and chose to focus more on celebrations and provocation than to perfect his own skills. 

India's decision to not shake hands will forever be a polarised event. Suryakumar's statements about rivalry also might seem to border on 'arrogance'. However, what India are doing brilliantly is to shut down the outside noise when it comes to the India-Pakistan games. They are yet to use any politically motivated gestures against their arch-rivals even in the most heated moments. As it is, India are a far superior side if you compare the squads and skill sets, but by making the right decisions, they have just neutralised any chance that Pakistan may have had of staging a comeback. When Abhishek exchanged words with Afridi and Rauf, it was just pure sledging from the batter and he also ensured to not get carried away by the occasion. 

If Pakistan want to beat India in this era, the odds are already stacked against them due to the immense gulf in skill set between the two sides. But T20 cricket is an unpredictable format and on a given day, any team can beat the other. However, for Pakistan to beat India, the day won't come as long as they resort to prioritizing politics over cricket.