‘They were making personal attacks' - Abhishek Sharma breaks silence on the on-field spat with Pakistan bowlers

India opening batter Abhishek Sharma hogged the limelight during India vs Pakistan clash in the Super Fours of the ongoing Asia Cup 2025 event on Sunday, September 21 in Dubai. The southpaw looked absolutely menacing with the bat in hand, as he scored a match-winning 74 and helped India win the match easily by six wickets. The opener also earned the Man of the Match Award. However, what grabbed more attention was his verbal spat with pacers Haris Rauf and Shaheen Afridi.

As expected, Abhishek started India's chase emphatically by clobbering Shaheen for a first-ball six. Later, the left-arm pacer fired a few words at him, to which the SRH opener responded to his liking. Later, his opening partner, Shubman Gill, also had a go at the Pakistani pacer for concentrating more on sledging rather than focusing on bowling. Things started to heat up after the same happened between the Indian openers and Rauf during the last over of the power play.

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Abhishek stated that such an altercation could have been avoided, but he was left with no option but to respond.

"Personally, I did not like it because on every ball, their bowlers were trying to poke at me, launching some personal attacks on me and Shubman [Gill]. So I felt that it was necessary for me to respond to them in my own style. Because this is not how cricket should be played, in my opinion. I was constantly having a word with Shubman to give them a befitting reply after winning the match tonight," Abhishek told Sony Sports Network in a post-match chat.

Also Read: 'You talk, we win': Abhishek Sharma's cheeky dig at Pakistan after commanding Asia Cup win

India continues dominance over Pakistan

Meanwhile, India continued its one-sided rivalry with Pakistan, as they have now beaten Men In Green 7 times since 2022 in the white-ball formats. Largely all of these victories have been one-sided, with the Men In Blue clearly demonstrating the gulf between the two sides. India skipper Suryakumar Yadav, in the post-match conference, also dismissed the IND vs PAK rivalry, by stating 7-0, or 10-1, cannot be termed a rivalry.

Also Read: 'Stop calling it a rivalry' - Suryakumar Yadav demolishes Pakistan after India thrash them in Super 4 tie