Suryakumar Yadav Clarifies Team India’s No-Handshake Stance Against Pakistan at Asia Cup

India captain Suryakumar Yadav explains post match drama between the two teams in his press conference.

Suryakumar Yadav Clarifies Team India’s No-Handshake Stance Against Pakistan at Asia Cup

Shivam Dube and Suryakumar Yadav (Image via X/BCCI)

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The Asia Cup 2025 saw its first India vs. Pakistan encounter on Sunday (September 14) when both teams, despite all the boycott calls in the country, went ahead to participate. However, with emotions running so high, the end story was that cricket was secondary and some actions apart from the cricket took the primary spot.

It all started at the toss when both captains, Suryakumar Yadav from India and Salman Ali Agha from Pakistan, were together. Salman won the toss, and in normal circumstances, both captains would shake hands at that point.

Well, in this instance, both Yadav and Salman had their hands behind their backs and crossed each other without making any eye contact as well. Reportedly, match referee Andy Pycroft had signaled to the Pakistan captain prior to the toss that there won’t be any handshake at the toss.

The players played the entirety of the match at peace, but the end had its own set of drama. As the Indian captain hit the winning runs with a six over mid-wicket, both he and partner Shivam Dube shook hands with each other and walked briskly towards the Indian change room.

The Pakistan team gathered near the Indian change room, but the Indians were clear on their stance of not shaking hands and quickly closed the door of the change room as well. When asked about this stance in his post-match presentation, Yadav had a lot to say.

Our government and the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) were aligned on the decision to play this match. We came here just to play the match and gave them a perfect reply. I feel a few things are ahead of sportsmanship. We stand with the families of Pahalgam and also the brave armed forces during Operation Sindoor.

Suryakumar Yadav said

Captain Suryakumar Yadav clarified that this was a decision taken long back with the government. The team was here to just play cricket and not build any other relationships, and not doing a handshake was part of it.

Yadav did bring out the emotions as well, mentioning the unfortunate incident in Pahalgam. Reportedly, Captain Salman Ali Agha wasn’t pleased with this reaction from the Indian team and avoided the post-match talk as it was conducted by ex-India player Ravi Shastri.

Coach Mike Hesson too termed this as a ‘disappointing’ end to the match. The tempers have certainly raised between the two sides and, in all likelihood, they will compete on the coming Sunday as well. It will be interesting to see how both teams act on the field in round 2.

Team India shows the difference in level after statement win against Pakistan

The hype around the India and Pakistan game was once again busted very early on in the match at the 2025 Asia Cup. The recent closeness in the T20 encounters of the two sides was also not seen this time around as India looked clearly more skilled and well equipped in a high stakes match like this.

Pakistan won the toss and were batting first. Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah in their very first overs brought Pakistan down to 7-2 leaving the Men in Green way behind in the race. Pakistan regularly lost wickets from then on, and at one point even 100 runs looked a farfetched thought.

India dominated Pakistan in all facets of the game.
Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma (Image via Business Standard)

Shaheen Afridi‘s late flourish brought the team to 127, but it always was under par with India’s powerful batting line up. India came out all guns blazing as Abhishek Sharma took on Afridi and hit him for a four and six off the first two balls itself. India did lose two wickets in the powerplay, but by that time the Indian openers had done enough damage to leave Pakistan way behind in the game.

Apart from a decent spell from Abrar Ahmed and wickets from Saim Ayub, the Pakistani bowlers looked clueless. India’s captain batted till the end and secured victory for his side in the 16th over itself.

India has prevailed in the first-round match between the two sides. In all likelihood, there will be a second match the following Sunday, and it will be interesting to see if India continues their dominance or Pakistan finds a much needed voice.

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