The sides will meet for the first time in a Final in the tournament's history.
The India vs Pakistan fixture will be played for the third time in a span of 20 days. Pakistan sealed their spot in the Final of the tournament after their recent victory against Bangladesh. On the other hand, the Men in Blue have been on a dream run. They have won all the five matches in the campaign so far. However, the seventh one will be the most important one.
While the cricketing action has always been top-notch between the two nations, the previous two encounters have seen something completely different. After Suryakumar Yadav and the Indian side declined shaking hands in the group stage fixture, the Super 4s game was drenched in the gestures made by Sahibzada Farhan and Haris Rauf.
The political relations between the arch-rivals have not been on good terms since the last few months, and these gestures from Farhan and Rauf have ignited rage in the minds of the Indian fans. Farhan took to a ‘gunman celebration’ after his fifty, whereas Rauf was seen making gestures signalling ‘6-0’ towards the Indian fans while fielding on the boundary. The speedster was also seen having an exchange of words with Indian openers Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill.
However, the Indians lodged a formal complaint after the gestures by the Pakistani players. Though Suryakumar Yadav’s hearing was done before, Rauf and Farhan presented their statements in front of the panel today (September 26).
Both the Pakistani players’ statements were taken in front of the panel. Rauf suggested that his gestures had got nothing to do with the political relations between the two nations. According to him, he stated that it was just a way to indulge with the fans of India and Pakistan. His gestures did get the Indian fans agitated, due to the strenuous relations of the two countries.
On the other hand, opener Sahibzada Farhan clarified his stand, stating that there was nothing wrong with the ‘gunman celebration.’ He added further, and mentioned himself being a pathan. Furthermore, Farhan also stated that Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni had also done the celebration before, and they weren’t penalised for the same.
As a result, both Rauf and Farhan were found guilty of the Level 1 offence under the International Cricket Council (ICC) Code of Conduct for their actions during the India vs Pakistan fixture. Furthermore, the speedster has been fined 50% of his match fees, and the opener has been reprimanded and left with a warning. Reportedly, Farhan has been instructed not to repeat the celebration again.
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Both Rauf and Farhan are extremely important to Pakistan’s chances in the tournament. The importance of the Pakistani opener’s role has been magnified due to the inconsistency of Saim Ayub. The left-handed opener has registered four ducks in the six matches played so far, and his position in the side will be hanging by a thread. In such a situation, Farhan has been scoring runs consistently. He has scored 160 runs for Pakistan in the tournament, which happens to be the highest for the team.
To add to that, Haris Rauf has scalped nine wickets in six matches so far. This is the joint-most wickets for the Shaheens in the tournament, with Shaheen Shah Afridi and Rauf topping the charts. The left-arm pacer has picked nine wickets in 20.5 overs. Rauf has scalped as many wickets in just 14.4 overs. If both of them fire against India on Sunday, India might find themselves in a heap of trouble.
The best way for Pakistan to put the Indians under pressure is to defend a total. Runs on the board is always a good thing in a high-pressure game. And the Men in Green would love to bat first. However, the bowlers will have to be clinical against the Indian openers. Abhishek and Gill had tonked them for 72 runs when the two teams met in the Super 4s.
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