‘Gun-firing’ celebration | Farhan: I don’t care what people say

After a controversy erupted over his ‘gun-firing’ celebrations against India in an Asia Cup Super Four match, Pakistan batter Sahibzada Farhan has spoken as to why he celebrated in such a way.

Farhan, who opened the batting, scored a half-century against India at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium (DICS) on Sunday (September 21). The right-hander hit a six off Axar Patel to reach the milestone.

What Farhan said

To celebrate it, Farhan held his bat like a gun and started firing towards the team’s dugout. The video of the same was shared on social media, and it created a controversy with many slamming the cricketer.

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A day after the incident, Farhan said he doesn’t care what people think about it.

“I think, if you talk about the sixes, you will see that (a lot) in the future. And that (celebration) was just a moment at that time. I do not do a lot of celebrations after scoring 50. But, it suddenly came to my mind that let's do a celebration today. I did that. I don’t know how people will take it. I don't care about that. And the rest, you know, you should play aggressive cricket wherever you play. It is not necessary that it is India. You should play aggressive cricket against every team, like we played today,” Farhan, who top-scored with 58 for Pakistan against India, said.

Pakistan’s powerplay batting

Farhan addressed the media on the eve of Pakistan’s second Super Four match against Sri Lanka in Abu Dhabi.

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Thanks to Farhan’s knock, Pakistan scored 171/5 in 20 overs. But it was not enough as India won the game by six wickets.

Speaking about Pakistan’s strategy for the rest of the Asia Cup, he said, “I think in the last few matches what was missing was that we were not utilising powerplays well. We were giving away early wickets. It is important to use the powerplays well and also not give away wickets.”

“The way we played in powerplay (against India), we did not give away early on wickets. God willing, our powerplay was also very good as we scored 90-something runs in 10 overs. We did collapse in the middle, but we will rectify it,” he added.