Asia Cup 2025: Indian Team Refused Shaking Hands With Pakistan Players

At the toss, Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav declined the traditional handshake with his Pakistani counterpart, Salman Ali Agha.

India and Pakistan has resulted in a controversial ending to their cricket match at the Asia Cup 2025 in Dubai.

India’s captain, Suryakumar Yadav, stated that his team chose not to shake hands with their rivals as a form of protest.

Indian team’s impressive seven wicket victory in the T20 match was a “perfect reply” to Pakistan, especially following the intense four day conflict that nearly escalated into war in May.

Why Indian Team Refused Shaking Hands With Pakistani Players

“Our [Indian] government and the BCCI [Board of Control for Cricket in India] were on the same page about playing this match. We came here just to play and gave them [Pakistan] a solid response”, Yadav shared with the media right after the game.

Yadav, who scored the winning runs for India, left the field with his batting partner, Shivam Dube, without stopping to shake hands with the Pakistani captain and team, which is the usual post match tradition.

The players from Pakistan walked off together and waited for the Indian team and support staff to come out and exchange handshakes, as is customary at the end of cricket matches.

But the Indian team just exchanged handshakes among themselves before heading into their locker room and closing the door, while the Pakistan players watched from the sidelines.

The Indian captain was questioned about his team’s behavior and if it contradicted the essence of sportsmanship.

“There are some things in life that go beyond the spirit of sports”, yadhav quickly replied.

“We support all the victims of the Pahalgam terror attack and their families, dedicating this victory to our courageous armed forces involved in Operation Sindoor”.

India stated that these missile launches were a reaction to the attack on tourists in Pahalgam, Indian-administered Kashmir, on April 22, which resulted in the deaths of 26 individuals.

An armed group known as The Resistance Front (TRF), advocating for Kashmir’s independence, took responsibility for the assault, although India accused Pakistan of being involved.

Just two days later, Pakistan retaliated to the missile attacks by targeting military sites along its border with India and Indian-administered Kashmir, hitting at least four different locations.

The conflict wrapped up four days later, thanks to a ceasefire brokered internationally.

Even though the aerial fire stopped, the diplomatic relations between the two neighbors stayed on hold.

The political tension overflowed into cricket when the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) announced the match between India and Pakistan.