India’s assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate praised his players for remaining calm throughout the Asia Cup 2025 Super 4s match against Pakistan on Sunday, even with continuous provocation from the Pakistan camp. The Dubai International Stadium encounter saw both sides lose their cool, with Pakistan pacers Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf being at the centre of multiple incidents.
Haris was especially criticized after making the offending hand signals initially waving “6-0” in the stands and then mimicking fighter planes being shot down. The action was interpreted as a nod to Pakistan’s previous claims of shooting down six Indian aircraft during Operation Sindoor. Opening batsman Sahibzada Farhan was also seen engaging in offensive gestures during the match.
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“Let me just say, the amount of pressure that’s been heaped on the players because of the situation, it’s very difficult to control their behaviour. I did see some of the things Haris did, and, you know, that’s not our concern. Like I said earlier, we’re really proud of how the guys carried themselves, you know, they were on fire with their bats on the field. You know, how the teams showed their ambitions,” ten Doeschate told reporters on Tuesday.
Aggression spilled onto the field with Shaheen and Haris shouting at India’s openers Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill. However, the Indian pair spoke loudest with their batsmen, compiling an authoritative 105-run partnership for the first wicket. Gill was dismissed for 47, and Abhishek led the charge with 74, keeping India firmly in charge of the run chase.
“I’ll say, given the situation, you can see why guys are behaving and what they’re trying to portray. But we were very focused on how we wanted to play. I think we stuck to the cricket really well. It would have been easy to lose our minds at that point, given the celebration as well,” said ten Doeschate.
“Some of the words during the game from the Pakistan bowling unit, but I thought the guys stuck really well to the task of getting the job done and winning the game,” he added.
India went on to surpass Pakistan’s 172-run target with seven balls remaining, courtesy of match-winning unbeaten cameos by Hardik Pandya (13) and Tilak Varma (30). Post-match, ten Doeschate stated he was impressed at how Abhishek and Gill reacted with maturity, emphasizing that “the whole world knows what the Pakistan pacers were attempting” with their non-stop sledging.
With this victory, India will take on Bangladesh in their Super 4s match on Wednesday, September 24, at the same ground.
