As the excitement builds up to the much-anticipated Asia Cup 2025 final between arch-rivals Pakistan and India on Sunday in Dubai, Pakistan captain Salman Agha has voiced strong support for his players, encouraging them to assert themselves on the field while urging them to avoid crossing disciplinary lines. His comments come in the wake of recent tensions between the two teams following their fiery Super Four encounter last Sunday. In the match, Pakistan opener Sahibzada Farhan celebrated his fifty with a 'gun-firing' celebration, and Haris Rauf made aggressive gestures towards a section of the Indian fans. Pakistan’s Haris Rauf and Sahibzada Farhan were both recently reprimanded by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for breaches of the code of conduct. Meanwhile, this will be the third time the two sides meet in the ongoing tournament.

"Every individual has their own way. If someone wants to be aggressive on the ground, then why not? Because if you snatch aggression from a fast bowler, then nothing is left," Salman said at the pre-match press conference in Dubai.

"And speaking of emotions, every player knows how to deal with his emotions. As a captain, I give a free hand to any player on how to react on the ground, unless he is disrespecting someone or doing something disrespectful to the country."

Ahead of the Super Four game, both teams met each other during the group stage on September 14, and in that game, Indian players reportedly refused to shake hands with their Pakistani counterparts either before or after the match. When asked about the incident, Agha stated that he had never seen something like that between two teams.

"I've been playing cricket since 2007 professionally. I've never seen no handshakes between two teams. My dad is a huge fan of cricket and used to tell me about its history. He never told me about any game where there's not been a handshake. I've heard it's never happened before."

"When India-Pakistan games took place in even more tense situations, handshakes always happened. Not to have handshakes is not good for cricket. If someone wants to be aggressive, whether they're from my team or their team, I have no issues with that, but you should shake hands at the end of it."

"If you snatch gestures from a fast bowler, I don't think he will be as effective as he should be. And if an individual wants to be aggressive on the ground, most welcome whether he is from our team or theirs, I have no problem with that," he said.