Playing against India in an nail-biting encounter, Pakistan’s opener Sahibzada Farhan sparked controversy during the Asia Cup 2025 Super Four match on Sunday as he mimicked firing a gun after scoring his half century.

Farhan, who scored his half-century in just 34 deliveries, immediately turned toward his dugout and mimicked a “gun-firing” gesture after reaching reaching the milestone.

During the powerplay, Farhan tore into India’s spinners, smashing five boundaries and three sixes in an attacking knock. This helped Pakistan race to 91 runs in the opening 10 overs.

To complete his half-century, Farhan smashed a towering six off Axar Patel in the 10th over and his gesture went viral immediately on social media, which drew widespread condemnation.

The reason for widespread condemnation of his celebration was the timing, as months ago, on April 22, a total of Indian tourists were killed in the Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir. It was carried out by militants from Pakistan. And now Farhan’s mimicry of firing a gun was widely criticised on social media as insensitive.

Here’s how social media reacted:

One wrote, “Sahibzada Farhan’s fifty celebration👇 How much more mockery our Army will u allow?? @JayShah ?Shame”

Another wrote, “What on earth was that from Sahibzada Farhan after his 50?🤯Literally firing gunshots in the air. This won’t sit well with India. 3 dropped catches in 6 overs was unacceptable, but this should be the wake-up call. Brace for India’s reply.”

A third commented, “Pak player Sahibzada Farhan is celebrating his fifty like this… How much more shamelessness can be tolerated for the sake of money…”

“A very disgraceful act by Sahibzada Farhan, imitating the shooting down of Indian aircraft during a cricket match. Sports should never be mixed with politics,” a fourth user wrote.

Farhan scored 58 off 45 balls at a strike rate of 128.89, which included 5 fours and 3 sixes.

Meanwhile, Farhan’s act added to tensions already simmering in the tournament, as Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav maintained the ‘no-handshake’ gesture with Salman Ali Agha for the second time. SKY and other Indian players ad also declined handshakes in the previous clash, and SKY dedicated that victory to the Pahalgam victims and the armed forces.

Earlier, kin of the Pahalgam victims and opposition parties had called for a boycott of cricketing ties with Pakistan, urging India to pull out of the match. However, the Union government cleared the way for the BCCI to play the game. They reiterated that India would continue to avoid bilateral ties but allow encounters in multilateral tournaments.

India Vs Pakistan, Asia Cup 2025, Super 4:

Earlier, after winning the toss, Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav opted to bowl first. Pakistan, which batted first, scored 171 runs of 5 wickets in 20 overs.

For Pakistan, Sahibzada Farhan made a century (58), while Saim Ayub (21), Mohammad Nawaz (21), Faheem Ashraf (20), and Salman Agha (17) fired some quick runs.

India’s Shivam Dube took 2 wickets, while Hardik Pandya and Varun Chakravarthy picked one wickets each.

Chasing 171, India’s opener Abhishek Sharma set the field on fire with his fierce batting. He scored an outstanding 74 runs off 39 deliveries at a strike rate of 189.74. In his innings he slammed 6 boundaries and 5 sixes.

Apart from Sharma, Shubman Gill scored 47 runs, while Tilak Varma made 30 quick runs. India won the match by 6 wickets with 7 balls remaining.

Pakistani bowler Haris Rauf took 2 wickets, while Abrar Ahmed and Faheem Ashraf picked one wicket each.