‘India ko chhorna mat’: Haris Rauf reacts after Pakistan fan clutches his hand and screams as Asia Cup final decided

When it comes to India vs Pakistan in cricket, controlling the emotions becomes tough, especially for the fans. With the two teams now slated to play in the final of the Asia Cup 2025, emotions of the fans on both sides are soaring high.

Pakistan defeated Bangladesh in a virtual semi-final clash at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. After the match ended, Haris Rauf was seen visiting the fans and shaking hands with them. It was at this point that one passionate fan held the bowler's hand and requested him to defeat India in the final.

A video clip of the incident has gone viral on social media. Where the fan is heard saying, “Badla lena hain. India ko chhorna nahi hain. Khuda ka vasta!!!” Haris Rauf was seen consoling the fan and then leaving after the exchange.

The tense build up to the final

While India vs Pakistan clashes come with this kind of pressure from the fans, the final of this Asia Cup will be a notch above all other games before this. The seeds of this one were planted during the geopolitical tensions between the two countries as a consequence of the tragic incident in Pahalgam.

This was followed by boycott calls around the first match between the two rivals in the group stage. The matter escalated when the Indian team did not shake hands with their opposition after humiliating them in the match.

Pakistan did not take this lightly and went on to complain about India and the match referee and called for boycotting the tournament. However, they played the rest of their games and found themselves facing India once more in the Super Four. The Salman Ali Agha-led side came up with a better show in the game, but were once again defeated by India. This match saw Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf resorting to cheap tactics and bringing off-the-field politics on the field to agitate the Indian fans, flaring up the fire around even more.

Suryakumar Yadav’s comment after the win in the Super Four game further agitated the Pakistan fans. When asked about the pressure of the rivalry of the two nations, the Indian skipper replied, “there is no rivalry anymore.”

Surya’s comment hurt the whole Pakistan cricket fan community. Stats and numbers of when Pakistan dominated this clash were flying around the social media.

The frustration of being humiliated by India twice in eight days and then being dismissed as able rivals have built within the fans of cricket proud nation. The particular interaction between Haris Rauf and the Pakistan fans is evidence that they would settle for nothing short of a win in the final. For them, it is not the trophy, it is the rivalry that matters.

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