IPL.com

Watch: India’s Openers Dominate Shaheen Afridi, Rauf Exchange Turns Fiery in Super Fours Match

by Dwijesh

Watch: India’s Openers Dominate Shaheen Afridi, Rauf Exchange Turns Fiery in Super Fours Match

[ Poll: 4y2dvPZd ]

Earlier in the innings, the left-hander smashed a big six off the very first ball of the chase from Pakistan’s main fast bowler, Shaheen Shah Afridi. It gave the Suryakumar Yadav-led team a strong start. There was a short exchange of words after that shot too, but it wasn’t as heated as the one later with the right-arm pacer. The heated moments, though, charged Abhishek Sharma up, as he continued his merry way, making the chase look like a cakewalk. Gill too, showed a great amount of tactical stroke play, finding boundaries even on good deliveries.

At the time of writing, the opening partnership is still intact, with less than 70 more runs required to win from the next 11 overs for the Men in Blue.

During the fifth over of India’s innings in the Asia Cup 2025 Super Fours clash, Abhishek Sharma and Pakistan’s Haris Rauf got into a heated exchange. After Abhishek hit a boundary on the second ball, Rauf gave him a fiery stare.

Heated Exchange Between Abhishek Sharma and Haris Rauf in Asia Cup Clash

The Indian opener didn’t say anything, but the Pakistani fast bowler was clearly fired up in the middle of the intense battle at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Chasing a 172-run target, Shubman Gill also hit Rauf for a boundary on the last ball of the same over, which is when things really took an ugly turn, as the cricket pitch took the shape of a verbal war between the India openers and the Pakistani pacer. However, the umpires were quick to interrupt, and the issue did not intensify further. Notably, Rauf's over went for 12 runs, as India looked on top in their chase.