Dubai: Pakistan pacer Shaheen Afridi shared his thoughts on Shahibzada Farhan and Harris Rauf’s provocative gestures against India during Sunday’s Asia Cup Super 4s clash, saying that everyone has the right to express their feelings the way they want to.
Farhan performed a gunshot celebration with the bat after scoring a half-century in the first innings against India. In the second innings, Rauf made a gesture resembling a plane’s take-off and landing with his hands and also signalled 6-0 to the crowd when booed by them over the boundary.
Asked about his teammates’ actions during the pre-match press conference before Pakistan’s next clash against Bangladesh, Afridi told reporters, “Look, our job is to play cricket. Honestly, everyone has the right to express the way they want to.”
“Everyone has their own respect. Everyone thinks the way they think. But our job is to play cricket. We have come to win the Asia Cup. And we as a team are doing our best,” the 25-year-old added.
Pakistan have a win and a loss from the two games that they’ve played in the Super 4s so far, with their final clash of the stage set to be played on Wednesday. After being handed a defeat at the hands of the Men in Blue, the Salman Agha-led team sailed past the Sri Lankan hurdle to add their first points in the table.
With another India-Pakistan clash at the tournament’s summit clash likely, Afridi is confident that his team could beat not just India, but any team that comes their way. “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,” he asserted.
IANS