Categories: Sports

IND vs PAK Asia Cup 2025 Super Four: Mohammad Azharuddin’s Comments Stir Controversy Ahead Of India vs Pakistan Match

While many will support the Indian team for their actions as justified in response to the larger geopolitical context, Azharuddin is clearly advocating for sportsmanship as it has historically been constructed in cricket suggesting a better alternative to what transpired without necessarily returning from the team's position.

Published by Namrata Boruah
Published: September 21, 2025 17:54:26 IST

Mohammad Azharuddin, disagrees with the Indian team not shaking hands with Pakistan when both teams competed against each other in the group phase of the 2025 Asia Cup. Azharuddin’s opinion is directly contrary to most fans and other past players who thought this was a positive form of protest by the Indian team.

What Did Mohammad Azharuddin Say About India vs Pakistan Handshake?

In remarks to an interview, Azharuddin said that he does not understand the issue, ‘I feel that there is nothing wrong with shaking hands. When you are playing the match, you are playing with everything. You might as well shake hands or whatever. I don’t know what the problem was. I really cannot understand. But, I don’t feel that there was anything wrong to shake hands.’ He also emphasized that the Indian team could have and should have boycotted the match if they were serious about protesting, ‘when you’re playing in protest, you might as well not play. There’s no point playing under protest’. Azharuddin mentioned that a firm decision to play the match meant the team should have played with all their might, stating that ‘Once you have taken a call to play when you had said you will not play Pakistan in bilateral, whether it is ICC event or Asia Cup, then you must play with full spirit. Otherwise you do not need to play at all.’

The Famous India vs Pakistan Handshake

The incident of no handshake took place post India’s seven wicket triumph over Pakistan in the group stage, where Suryakumar Yadav scored an unbeaten 47 for India to chase down a middling total of 128 runs. After the match, the Indian team decided to not handshake with the Pakistani players, and this generated a lot of fallout. Pakistan’s skipper Salman Agha protested by deciding to skip the post match interview, while the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) alleged that the match referee, Andy Pycroft had favoritism and asked the ICC to remove Pycroft from matches involving Pakistan. The ICC refused the PCB’s request for Andy Pycroft to be removed even after the board sent two requests. Azharuddin’s comments have added another layer to discussion on the handshake incident.