Asia Cup 2025: It's his view, let him say: Shaheen Afridi plays down Suryakumar Yadav's comments on India-Pakistan rivalry

Dubai: Pakistan pace spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi steered clear of giving a direct response to Suryakumar Yadav's view that Indo-Pak games should not be considered a rivalry anymore due to India's dominance and insisted that his team's focus is on winning the Asia Cup.

Addressing the pre-match press conference ahead of their must-win last Super 4 game against Bangladesh here on Thursday, Afridi side-stepped queries on Suryakumar's assertion.

"That's his view, let him say. When we meet (in the likely Asia Cup final on Sunday), we will see kya hai, kya nahi. Tab dekh lenge. We are here to win the Asia Cup and we will give our best effort for that," Afridi said.

Suryakumar had stated that for a rivalry to be considered genuine, the gulf in results cannot be 12-3, which is where the India-Pakistan T20I head-to-head currently stands.

The two teams have played each other twice in the ongoing tournament and India have emerged comprehensive victors both times.

But the tensions between the two sides are running high after the Indian team refused to perform traditional handshakes before and after the games to show solidarity with victims of the Pahalgam terror attack in which Pakistan-backed terrorists were involved.

The matches have been marred by Pakistani players' aggressive gestures towards fans as well as rival players and Afridi was asked if the aggression had been planned by the likes of Haris Rauf and Sahibzada Farhan.

While Rauf seemingly mocked Indian fans, Farhan's provocative gun-firing celebration also caused a stir during their Super 4 game on Sunday.

"There is no specific plan to be aggressive, we have always been aggressive, from the time we started playing. This is how cricket is played and the team morale is kept high," he said.

Asked if the team is even discussing the possible Indo-Pak match-up in the final, he said, "We are not in the final yet, when we reach, we will think about it." When quizzed about "what's been going on" between the two teams, Afridi first responded with a cheeky, "Kya chal raha hai?" On being specifically asked about Rauf and Farhan, Afridi once again steered clear of the issue.

"Our job is to play cricket, people can think what they want. We are here to win Asia Cup. We are trying our best to fulfil Pakistan's hopes," he said.

On to cricketing matters and the heavy weather that Pakistan made of a chase of 133 against Sri Lanka last night in Abu Dhabi, Afridi said the nature of the format is such that it is difficult for all players to click at once.

"Credit to Hussain (Talat) and (Mohammad) Nawaz for handling pressure. T20 is like this only, everyone doesn't perform at the same time," he shrugged.

On his own form both with the bat and ball and whether the team's fast bowlers have under-performed so far, Afridi said, "My job is to fulfil the role assigned to me whether it is batting or bowling. Doesn't matter if I am injured or unwell. My job is to keep team morale high and perform well." "It's not that we are not winning, we have won but we haven't won against bigger teams. I don't think our fast bowlers are struggling. T20 format is such that batsmen find it easier to hit on good wickets.

"But we should have more variation in our bowling and we are striving for that." Against Bangladesh on Thursday, Afridi said the plan is to go on the offence from the word go.

"Bangladesh is a good team and has played good cricket of late. We have to punch first against them, we have to play good cricket," he said.