I won’t stop anyone from expressing emotions as long as it is not disrespectful: Pakistan captain Agha

Pakistan skipper Salman Agha on Saturday said he will not prevent his players from expressing themselves in the Asia Cup final against India, but cautioned them not to be “disrespectful”.

The India-Pakistan matches in the league and Super Fours stages of the continental showpiece were marred by some over the top celebrations and subsequent verbal duels between players.

“Every individual has the right to express emotions. If we stop fast bowlers from showing emotions what’s left then? I won’t stop anyone as long as it is not disrespectful,” Agha said in the pre-match press conference here.

However, Agha has not forgotten the episode of Indian players refraining from shaking hands with Pakistan players in the earlier matches.

“I started playing U16 cricket in 2007. I never saw any teams not shaking hands. Even when Indo-Pak relations were worse we still shook hands,” he added.

Agha said Pakistan lost the previous two matches in the tournament to India because they made more mistakes than their opponents.

“India versus Pakistan matches come with baggage of pressure. In the last two games we lost because we made more mistakes,” he said.