In an already tense environment, Sahibzada Farhan’s gunshot celebration after reaching his fifty against India on Sunday in the Super Fours clash of the Asia Cup stirred a controversy, with some saying it was in bad taste.
However, the aggressive batter, who scored a 45-ball 58, ‘doesn’t care’ how people look at it.
“It was just a moment. I normally don’t celebrate after scoring a fifty. I suddenly decided to celebrate, but I don’t care how people look at it… We should play aggressive cricket against all the teams, not [just] against India, just the way we played today,” Farhan said in the pre-match press conference ahead of Pakistan’s must-win match against Sri Lanka in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.
Farhan struck a 34-ball half-century with a six over long-on off Axar Patel in the 10th over of Pakistan’s innings and turned toward his dressing room to celebrate the moment, holding up the bat horizontally with the handle pointing towards him.
The 29-year-old has been on a six-hitting spree in T20s this year, having hit 70 maximums, the seventh-most in the world, and said that it is an aspect of his game he has worked hard on recently.
“I have worked very hard. Earlier, whenever I would score runs, I would hit very few boundaries. If we had won this match, it would have meant a lot to me. to me. Performing well against India is highly rated.”
Having made his T20I debut in 2018, Farhan was in the wilderness for almost six years and only got a recall to the national side in January last year.
RELATED | India vs Pakistan is not a rivalry anymore, says Suryakumar Yadav
Farhan underwent a career rejuvenation after a prolific Pakistan Super League campaign this year, where the Islamabad United batter was the top run-scorer in the tournament with 449 runs at a strike rate of over 150. His six-hitting ability earned him a permanent spot in the team at the top of the batting order after Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan were axed earlier this year.
However, with Saim Ayub scoring three consecutive ducks, Pakistan was struggling to get good starts until it shuffled the order against India on Sunday by promoting Fakhar Zaman as opener, alongside Farhan.
“We shuffled the batting order, and that also worked well for Saim [at No. 3], who hit some good shots. Fakhar bhai played the way he also does. When boundaries come from the other end also, it gives me a lot of confidence; otherwise, it builds pressure,” Farhan said, hinting that Pakistan could retain the same batting hierarchy for the crucial Super Four match against Sri Lanka.
Published on Sep 22, 2025
The postAsia Cup 2025: “I don’t care how people look at it,” says Farhan on gunshot celebration against India appeared first on Sportstar