BCCI officially files complaint against Pakistan players’ controversial gestures:Sahibzada performed gun-shot celebration, Rauf signalled crashing fighter plane

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has filed a formal complaint with the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Wednesday against Pakistani cricketers Haris Rauf and Sahibzada Farhan. Actually, during the Asia Cup Super-4 match played in Dubai on 21 September, both of them made provocative gestures. Notably, Rauf made a gesture of shooting down an aircraft from the sky while Sahibzada did a gun celebration after scoring a fifty. Rauf’s controversial response after being taunted by fans using Kohli’s name During the Super-4 matchup between India and Pakistan, Indian fans were taunting Rauf by chanting Virat Kohli’s name. This was because Kohli had hit two consecutive sixes off Rauf’s bowling in the 2022 T20 World Cup match played in Melbourne. Rauf got furious with the crowd’s response and made gestures of shooting down aircraft flying in the sky. To understand the reference, Pakistan claimed that during Operation Sindoor, the Pakistani army shot down 5 Indian fighter planes. However, this claim is considered baseless. Notably, Rauf’s gesture quickly went viral on social media with Indian fans heavily criticising his actions and doubling down on the PAK bowler with trolls. Rauf’s heated argument with Abhishek-Gill During his bowling spell, Haris Rauf also used abusive words towards Indian openers Shubman Gill and Abhishek Sharma. After the match, Abhishek Sharma said that we responded with the bat. ‘I don’t care’- Sahibzada Farhan’s response on gun celebration In the same match, after scoring a fifty, Sahibzada Farhan gestured shooting bullets by using his bat like a machine gun. The provocative celebration received an all-round criticism. After the match, Sahibzada said, “I don’t care how people take it. It was just a moment, I felt like celebrating, and I did it. I don’t usually celebrate after a fifty, but this time I thought of trying something.” Also Read: How India made it to final with one match left?: Sri Lanka out of title race; Men in Blue have chance to claim historic ninth trophy PCB accuses Suryakumar of making political statement PCB has also filed a complaint with ICC against Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav. This complaint is regarding the first match played between the two teams on 14 September. PCB claims that Suryakumar dedicated the Indian team’s victory in this match to the victims of the Pahalgam terror attack and the armed forces involved in Operation Sindoor PCB claimed that Suryakumar’s statement was political. However, technically, it needs to be seen whether PCB made this complaint within the seven-day time limit, which is required under the rules. ICC set to hold hearing in the issue ICC will now hear this matter. If Rauf and Sahibzada deny these allegations in writing, they may have to appear before ICC Elite Panel referee Richie Richardson. However, if they fail to defend their gestures, they could face punishment under the ICC Code of Conduct. Mohsin Naqvi’s controversial post Pakistan’s Home Minister and Asian Cricket Council (ACC) President Mohsin Naqvi’s video post added more fuel to the fire. He posted a video on social media on Wednesday. The post footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, where he was gesturing about a plane crash, similar to the gesture made by Rauf on the field. This video presumably shows Ronaldo’s free-kick, but it is being considered inflammatory against India. BCCI and ICC have taken notice of Naqvi’s action. It remains to be seen whether any action will be taken against Naqvi. Particularly, the question arises whether the Indian team, which has reached the Asia Cup final, will share the stage with Naqvi.