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Dubai [UAE], September 23 (ANI): Ahead of the Asia Cup clash against Bangladesh, India’s assistant coach Ryan Ten Doeschate spoke on Pakistan pacer Haris Rauf’s provocative gestures during the previous clash, saying that “it is not the team’s concern” and the team is happy with how they all have carried themselves throughout the tournament so far.

India will take on Bangladesh in their second Asia Cup Super Four stage clash on Wednesday, having beaten Pakistan by six wickets in a comprehensive run chase of 172 runs two days prior.

It was Rauf who also headlines on and off the field for a controversial gesture that he used to taunt Indian fans. In the second innings, Rauf, who was stationed near the boundary rope, responded to the jeers from Indian spectators by lifting his fingers to indicate “0-6”, a reference to Pakistan’s groundless claims that they downed six Indian fighter jets during the four-day clash at the border after India’s Operation Sindoor in May this year.

Rauf’s reaction spread like wildfire, and videos of his gesture went viral on social media. The 31-year-old drew flak from numerous Indian fans, who trolled and lampooned him for his action. During the incident, Rauf was teased by the fans with the chants of “Virat Kohli”, as the legendary batter had hit him for two successive sixes during a tense run-chase of 160 runs at Melbourne during the T20 World Cup 2022, one of which has been described by the International Cricket Council (ICC) as the ‘Shot of the Century’.

Speaking about Rauf’s gestures during the pre-match presser, Doeschate said that it is very difficult to control players’ behaviour given the pressure they are under.

“Let me first say, the amount of pressure that has been heaped on the players because of the situation, it is very difficult to control their behaviour. I did see some of the things Haris did and that is not our concern. Like I said earlier, we are really proud of how the guys carried themselves,” said the coach.

“They fought fire with their bats on the field. I am sure other teams have issues with some of the things we have done but from our side, we are delighted with how our guys have carried themselves in this tournament,” he added.

India’s assistant coach also spoke on Pakistan batter Sahibzada Farhan’s equally provocative celebration after scoring his fifty, during which he gestured with his bat as if he was firing a gun. Doeschate said India was just focusing on how to behave themselves and “stick to cricket”.

“They had a very good start. I don’t think they got carried away with it. I think we managed to pull it back really well after 10 overs. Again, I will say given the situation you can see why guys are behaving and what they’re trying to portray but we were very focused on how we wanted to behave. I think we stuck to the cricket really well,” said the coach.

It would have been easy to lose our minds at that point, given the celebration and some of the words from the Pakistan bowling unit during the game.” I thought the guys stuck really well to the task of getting the job done and winning the game. Like I said, not at our very best so lots of things to work on but still managing to win rather comfortably is very pleasing for us.

Speaking about the mindset the team carries for the clash against Bangladesh, Ryan said that the “general principle is to respect everyone, fear no one”. He also pointed out how Team India was not completely happy with their performance against Pakistan, calling it “scrappy”.

“Our general principle is to respect everyone, fear no one. It is more about our process and what we are trying to achieve. The focus will be on putting our best game out again. We actually thought we were a bit scrappy against Pakistan. We were not happy with their performance. We just had a team meeting now, and as we always do, we try to address the things we feel we can be better at and more clinical at. So regardless whether it is Bangladesh or Oman or whoever we are facing, the guys tomorrow will be trying to put their best foot forward and give their best performance,” he added. (ANI)

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