‘If you mess with India, we won't let you go’: Irfan Pathan's direct warning to Pakistan's Haris Rauf, Sahibzada Farhan

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Pathan made his perspective clear regarding what he thought about this situation, and how Pakistan behaved during the match. “India wins, India progresses. This is the magic of India. But yesterday we got to see a lot of aggression, a lot of banter, to the extent that Abhishek Sharma said in the post-match presentation that they said things they shouldn’t have,” explained Pathan on his YouTube channel. “That’s why all the players said on social media, that you will keep talking, we will keep winning. It’s a straightforward message.”

Pathan’s perspective was that India were happy to keep it all civil on the field, even if they didn;t shake hands, they would never resort to classless aggression. “Indian cricketers are never affected. We never say anything. We quietly play our cricket. But don’t think that we won’t respond if you say something, whether you’re Australian or Pakistani. We will answer. We will answer with our bat, and we will answer you.”

‘If you mess with us…’: Pathan's warning to Pakistan

Pathan’s perspective was that while Indian fans only engage with Pakistani cricket from a rivalry standpoint when matches between the two teams come up, Pakistan tend to take it far more seriously even when India aren't playing them. As an example, he brought up how Pakistan's infamous 2022 loss to Zimbabwe wasn't a matter of concern for pundits in terms of points-scoring, but just as analysts.

“We never even talk in the media about how Pakistan lost, how they lost to Zimbabwe in World Cup 2022. I didn’t tweet, nor did anyone else, because it didn’t matter to anyone that you win or you lose,” he said. “We analyse them properly, do proper detailing, but we don’t care.”

He concluded by explaining how any aggressions would be treated in the same vein. He cited Sahibzada Farhan's gun celebration and Haris Rauf's antics as he taunted the Indian players and crowd as a step too far during Sunday's game.

“But if you mess with us, we won’t let you go. That has been our rule. What happened in the match yesterday, whether was that Farhan’s celebration, you know what is happening between our two countries, and you are doing that celebration,” explained Pathan.

“Haris Rauf, I thought this boy was okay. When we spoke in Australia he sounded grateful. But the way he behaved yesterday, that was not necessary. How both these boys acted only tells us about their upbringing, where they come from and what they do,” concluded the former Indian all-rounder.

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