Dubai [UAE], September 27 (ANI): Ahead of India's title clash against Pakistan during the ongoing Asia Cup, Pakistan skipper Salman Agha backed pacer Haris Rauf's aggression amid the controversy over provocative gestures made by him during the Super Four clash, saying that 'nothing is left' when aggression is taken away from a fast bowler and he has given a 'free hand' to players to express their emotions on the field as long as he is not 'disrespecting anyone or their country'.

The Asia Cup final between India and Pakistan, the first-ever title clash for Asian supremacy in the 41-year history of the competition, is the most intriguing clash between these two arch-rivals in recent years, due to all the off-the-field controversies and political tensions between these two nations. The 'handshake row' between these two teams, Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav's dedication of group stage win to Indian Armed Forces and solidarity with Pahalgam attack victims, and provocative gestures from Sahibzada Farhan and Rauf in the Super Four clash have turned this match into something way more than a game.

While Sahibzada started the provocation with a gun-fire celebration using his bat after reaching his fifty, Rauf came under fire as well. After dismissing Sanju Samson, Rauf showed aggression, and later when he was stationed near the boundary rope, responded to the jeers from Indian spectators by lifting his fingers to indicate '0-6', a reference to Pakistan's groundless claims that they downed six Indian fighter jets during the four-day clash at the border after India's Operation Sindoor in May this year.

Rauf's reaction spread like wildfire, and videos of his gesture went viral on social media. The 31-year-old drew flak from numerous Indian fans, who trolled and lampooned him for his action. During the incident, Rauf was teased by the fans with the chants of 'Virat Kohli', as the legendary batter had hit him for two successive sixes during a tense run-chase of 160 runs at Melbourne during the T20 World Cup 2022, one of which has been described by the International Cricket Council (ICC) as the 'Shot of the Century'.

After the BCCI lodged a complaint against Sahibzada and Rauf for their gestures, the International Cricket Council (ICC) fined Rauf 30 per cent of the match fee for using 'abusive language' while opener Sahibzada received a warning.

Speaking during the pre-match presser, Agha backed Rauf's aggression, saying that nothing is left in a fast bowler when his aggression is taken away, and players know how to deal with their emotions.

'There is a way for every individual (to deal with emotions). If someone wants to be aggressive on the ground, then why not? Because if you take away their aggression from a fast bowler, then nothing is left. And you talked about emotions. Every player knows how to deal with their emotions. And as a captain, I give a free hand to any player on how to react on the ground. Unless and until he does not disrespect anyone or our country,' said the skipper.

Speaking on no handshakes between these two teams during the matches so far, skipper Agha admitted that he had never heard of it happening before and recalled how his father used to tell him that there were always handshakes between two teams.

'I started playing cricket professionally in 2007 at under-16 level. I have never seen such instance when no handshakes happened between two teams. My father is also a big fan of cricket, and he told me that such things never happened.'

'And there have been India-Pakistan matches before, where things were much worse than this, but even then, handshakes used to take place. No handshakes is not good for cricket,' he added.

The skipper said that whatever the media and people are saying is not in the team's control, and they are only focusing on controllable factors.

'And it does not matter to them what people are saying. We have come here to play good cricket, and we will play good cricket and leave. Our goal is to win the Asia Cup, and we will come to the ground for it tomorrow,' he added.

Squads:

India Squad: Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson(w), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Jitesh Sharma, Rinku Singh, Shivam Dube

Pakistan Squad: Sahibzada Farhan, Fakhar Zaman, Saim Ayub, Salman Agha(c), Hussain Talat, Mohammad Haris(w), Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed, Hasan Ali, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Salman Mirza, Hasan Nawaz, Sufiyan Muqeem. (ANI)