Pakistan Cricket Board chief Mohsin Naqvi has reignited the controversy sparked by the controversial hand gestures from Pakistan paceman Haris Rauf during the India vs Pakistan clash in the Asia Cup 2025 on Sunday.
The PCB has been under the radar in recent times. They first created a huge controversy over the handshake row and even urged the ICC several times, leading to the suspension of the match referee.
Next, after their repeated pleas were ignored and then denied by the International body, they threatened to withdraw from the Asia Cup tournament but backed out at the last moment. It was said that the former PCB chairpersons advised Mohsin Naqvi to reconsider his decision and continue with the Asia Cup to avoid financial blow from the ICC.
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Mohsin Naqvi causes a ruckus with a Cristiano Ronaldo reference backing Haris Rauf’s actions
A major controversy started to flow in ever since Haris Rauf mocked the Indian fans at the Dubai International stadium, gesturing a jet crash with his hand. This led to immense criticism from cricket fans for whom this seemed an unexpected move.
Currently, Naqvi is also the head of the Asian Cricket Council and is responsible for the management of the logistics of the tournament in Dubai. He fanned the controversy with a recent post of football legend Cristiano Ronaldo making a similar gesture with his hand.
The claim indicated Pakistan’s uncorroborated claim of downing six Indian jets during the border escalations during the war-like situation between the two nations, India and Pakistan.
PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi is not holding back. If you know, you know.#TOKSports #MohsinNaqvi pic.twitter.com/Sv8vOtfCYB
— TOK Sports (@TOKSports021) September 24, 2025
Cheers of ‘Kohli, Kohli’ irked Haris Rauf, which led to him mocking the Indian fans
The incident that led to widespread controversy occurred during the India vs Pakistan match in Dubai. The Indian Cricket Fans who were present in large numbers at the stadium irked Haris Rauf by repeatedly cheering out the name of former Indian cricketer Virat Kohli.
Kohli has now retired from the T20 format but continues in the ODI format. The fans kept calling out Kohli’s name to Haris Rauf to remind him of the straight six hit by the legendary batter against him back in the 2022 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup. The paceman was clearly bothered by these calls, which led to his outburst with those hand gestures.
The Pakistan vs Bangladesh match is set to be an unofficial semi-final for the second spot in the Asia Cup final
The Pakistan National Cricket Team, despite having made a disappointing start to their Super 4 campaign, is now the most likely team to qualify for the Asia Cup finals after India. After India’s back-to-back win in the Super-4, they are all the way through to the Asia Cup finals, officially.
Pakistan will play their final group-stage game against Bangladesh today, on the 25th of October. Both these teams have lost against India and won against Sri Lanka. Hence, this can be considered the semi-final game between Pakistan and Bangladesh; the former survives, while the latter gets knocked out.
