After Haris Rauf, Pakistan U-17 football team does the controversial fighter plane celebration in match against India

A day after Pakistan pacer Haris Rauf’s controversial gestures during an Asia Cup match against India, his compatriot Muhammad Abdullah from the youth football team replicated the same during a SAFF U-17 Championship fixture in Colombo on Monday.

Rauf, while fielding during the Super 4s match against India on Sunday, made a 6-0 signal with his hand, followed by gestures of what looked like a crashing plane, as Indian fans taunted him with chants of “Kohli, Kohli!” referring to the Indian talisman’s back-foot six over mid-off, often called ‘the shot of the century’, against the Pakistani bowler in a 2022 T20 World Cup clash in Melbourne.

Rauf’s gestures may have alluded to Pakistan’s propaganda of downing Indian jets in its response to Operation Sindoor in the aftermath of the Pahalgam attack.

India went on to thrash Pakistan by six wickets, claiming its fourth win in a row. Later, Rauf’s wife added fuel to the fire by putting pictures of the moment on her Instagram story with the caption: “Lost the game, but won the battle”.

Haris Rauf’s Instagram story after Sunday’s game.
| Photo Credit:
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

During the course of the game, Pakistan’s opening batter Sahibzada Farhan had also pulled out a gun-firing celebration after scoring a fifty. And later, he added fuel to the fire by saying he doesn’t “care about what people think”.

“That celebration was just a moment at that time. I do not do a lot of celebrations after scoring a fifty. But, it suddenly came to my mind that we could do with a celebration today. I did that. I don’t know how people will take it. I don’t care about that,” Farhan told reporters during a press conference. Farhan scored 58 off 45 balls in the match.

The Asia Cup had started on an acrimonious note, when India players decided not to shake hands with their Pakistani counterparts.

Same action, different pitch

The passage of play wasn’t too different in the football game on Monday, when India edged its archrival 3-2. Both sides had already confirmed their places in the semifinal of the tournament after winning their respective first two matches.

India took the lead midway through the first half, but Pakistan made most of the opportunity when a foul was committed on Hamza Yasir in the box.

As Abdullah swept the resulting penalty into the top corner to equalise in the 43rd minute, he pulled out a similar celebration. However, India eventually romped home.

The victory means India finished unbeaten in the group stage. It won its previous two matches 6-0 against the Maldives and 1-0 against Bhutan.

India will now face Bangladesh in the semifinal of the tournament on September 25. 

Published on Sep 22, 2025