Pakistani cricketers Haris Rauf and Sahibzada Farhan made provocative gestures during the Asia Cup 2025 match against India in Dubai. Now, this trend is being adopted by players from all sectors.
During their Super Four clash, Haris Rauf made a “6-0” gesture, referring to Pakistan’s unverified claim of shooting down six Rafale aircraft during India’s Operation Sindoor – the Indian armed forces’ response to the Pahalgam terror attack earlier this year.
Pakistani athletes continue to display ‘Rafale’ and ‘gun’ in the fields
The Pakistani fast bowler also showed how their armed forces destroyed Indian fighter planes through his hand near the boundary line as Indian fans mocked the bowler by chanting “Kohli…Kohli”, reminding them of Virat Kohli’s thrashing in the 2022 T20 World Cup at the MCG.
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Not only this, after completing a half-century against India in the Asia Cup 2025 match at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Sahibzada Farhan went a step ahead and imitated the gun firing shot with his bat. After which the ICC reprimanded Sahibzada, while Rauf was fined 30 percent of the match fee.
After the Asia Cup 2025 controversy, Pakistan women’s national cricket team players repeated those gestures. And even the India Under-17 football team imitated “Rafale” and “Tea Ki Chuski” against India in the SAFF U17 Championship in Colombo.
Pakistan U-19 women’s “Rafale Down” celebration sparks fresh controversy
This trend has been continued by Pakistani athletes across the field. Meanwhile, a latest video is making waves on social media. In fact, Pakistan Under-19 women surprised fans by performing the controversial “Rafale Down” celebration after winning the tournament.
Girls in purple uniforms set the internet on fire. One group of players was sitting with the trophy, while from the other side two young players were moving forward in military style, holding their bats like guns.
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Both of them made gestures as if they were firing and within no time all the players sitting with the trophy fell on the ground pretending to be shot. This gesture quickly went viral on social media platforms. Now, fans are questioning the meaning and implications of the under-19 players’ actions and what message they want to send.
Shan Masood will face South Africa in the home series
Meanwhile, the Pakistan national cricket team is currently facing South Africa in the first Test of the ongoing two-match Test series on home soil. Pakistan won the toss and chose to bat first but suffered an early blow when Abdullah Shafiq was dismissed by Kagiso Rabada.
However, Imam-ul-Haq and captain Shan Masood carried the innings forward with a solid century partnership for the second wicket. Their partnership helped Pakistan take control of the game, which marked the opening Test of the new World Test Championship (WTC) 2025-27 cycle for both teams. Currently, their score is 200/5 against the Proteas team at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.
South Africa Playing XI:
Tony De Zorzi, Ryan Rickelton, Wiaan Mulder, Aiden Markram(c), Tristan Stubbs, Dewald Brewis, Kyle Verney(w), Senuran Muthusamy, Prenlan Subreyan, Kagiso Rabada, Simon Harmer
Pakistan playing eleven:
Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafiq, Shan Masood (captain), Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Salman Aga, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Noman Ali, Sajid Khan.
