The heated rivalry between India and Pakistan in the ACC Asia Cup 2025 started off with the group stage fixture on September 14, when the former had refused to shake hands with the opponents after defeating them by seven wickets. However, the celebration of the ace Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah has again sparked the conflict after dismissing Haris Rauf.
Notably, the ongoing league has witnessed several off-field controversies, following the latest border conflict between the two nations in May 2025. The situation got more heated up after the league-stage events, when these two sides met again in the Super Fours clash on September 21. While Pakistan’s Sahibzada Farhan brought up a gunman celebration, Rauf indicated a flight down gesture towards the fans near the boundary rope.
The pacer was also seen to exchange a few words with the Indian openers Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill during that match. However, after a formal complaint from the Indians over the gestures, both players had discarded any provocative reasons behind those actions. But the Pakistani pair were found guilty of the Level 1 offence under the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Code of Conduct for the aforementioned indications.
Previously, Rauf was fined 50 percent of his match fees for breaching the ICC’s Code of Conduct, while Farhan was reprimanded with a warning to not replicate the celebration in future matches. But as a reply to the seamer’s actions from the previous clash, Bumrah also signaled a similar flight down gesture after uprooting the off stump of the 31-year-old in the intense Asia Cup 2025 Final.
Following the turn of events, the authority might also take a similar step towards the pacer after the summit clash. Earlier, the Team India captain Suryakumar Yadav, was also fined 30 percent of his match fees due to the post-match comments on September 14.
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After being invited to bat first, the Pakistani openers were off to a flier to post 77 runs for no loss after nine overs. But since the breakthrough off spin-wizard Varun Chakravarthy to dismiss the in-form Farhan, the Men in Green kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Eventually, the reigning champions folded the team for only 146.
But three early wickets from Faheem Ashraf and Shaheen Shah Afridi brought them back into the game, especially after scalping the wicket of Abhishek Sharma, who was continuing a blazing form in the subcontinental tournament so far. However, the Men in Blue would need to handle the pressure well to secure successive Asia Cup titles and a record eighth trophy in the tournament.
On the other hand, Salman Ali Agha and Co. would also look to repeat their heroics of the latest match to claim their third Asian silverware. Notably, they had defended a low total of just 135 runs against Bangladesh to register a spot in the tournament Final. At the time of writing, India are at 83/4 after 14 overs, with Tilak Varma (37*) and Shivam Dube (4*) at the crease.
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