GUNS, GESTURES, AND HYPOCRISY: PAKISTAN’S CRICKETERS EXPOSE A VIOLENT MINDSET

On the eve of Sharadiya Navaratri, as Bharat prepared to invoke Maa Amba’s blessings with devotion, the Asia Cup clash between India and Pakistan unfolded in Dubai.

- SIDDHARTHA DAVE

For Indians, the festival marks the triumph of good over evil. Ironically, Pakistan's cricketers once again reminded the world of the darkness their gestures represent—violence, intimidation, and a jihadist imagination seeping even into the gentleman's game.

It was not merely a cricket contest. It was a mirror into Pakistan's social psyche, where sport cannot remain sport, where even a bat becomes a gun, and where even a wicket sparks war cries instead of celebration.

This is not new. Pakistan's players have a long tradition of antics that mock the sanctity of sport. Hasan Ali, once infamous for his “bomb blast” wicket celebration, reduced cricket to a parody of violence—so much so that he even injured himself once while mimicking an explosion. Today, he has faded into obscurity, remembered more for theatrics than his bowling.

Haris Rauf repeated the same mindset in Dubai. After dismissing an Indian batsman, he spread his arms and mimicked a warplane crashing. What message did this send? Was he celebrating cricket, or fantasizing about terror strikes? When players use the cricket field to act out battle scenarios, the game itself becomes hostage.

Then came Sahibzada Farhan, who shocked viewers by holding his bat like an AK-47. This was not harmless passion; it was symbolism steeped in Pakistan’s gun culture. When young fans see their heroes imitating terrorists, it is not sport—it is indoctrination.

This behaviour is not accidental. It is part of a pattern. In the 1996 World Cup quarterfinal at Bangalore, Aamir Sohail, after hitting Venkatesh Prasad for a boundary, gestured arrogantly with his bat. Prasad’s reply was unforgettable: the very next ball uprooted Sohail’s off-stump, sending him back to the pavilion. It was India’s way of saying: gestures do not win games, performance does.