Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha slams India for refusing handshake and skipping Asia Cup 2025 trophy presentation. Photo: X.
Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha claimed on Sunday that India skipper Suryakumar Yadav did shake his hand in private at the start of the Asia Cup but refused to do so when cameras were present.
“He shook hands with me in private at the start of the tournament,” Agha told reporters after the final, which India won by five wickets.
“Both at the pre-tournament press conference and when we met in the referee’s meeting. But when they’re out in front of the cameras, they don’t shake our hands. I’m sure he’s following the instructions he’s been given, but if it was up to him, he’d shake hands with me,” he added.
Agha also criticised India’s behaviour during the trophy presentation, calling it a disrespect to the game rather than a personal slight.
India chose not to receive the Asia Cup trophy from the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) and Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Mohsin Naqvi. Things escalated when Naqvi left the venue with the trophy, leaving the Indian team unable to lift the title for the ninth time.
“What India has done in this tournament is very disappointing,” Agha said. “They’re not disrespecting us by not shaking hands – they’re disrespecting cricket.
“Good teams don’t do what they did today. We went to pose with the trophy on our own because we wanted to fulfill our obligations. We stood there and took our medals. I don’t want to use harsh words, but they’ve been very disrespectful. This is the first time I’ve ever seen this happen. Whatever happened in this tournament was very bad, and I hope it stops at some stage because it’s bad for cricket,” he added.
The Pakistan captain said the behaviour set the wrong example for young fans.
“I’m not just a Pakistan captain, I’m a cricket fan. If a kid is watching in India or Pakistan, we’re not sending them a good message. People think of us as role models, but if we’re behaving like this, we’re not inspiring them. What happened shouldn’t have happened, but you should ask the people (India) responsible for this rather than me,” he said.
On the cricket itself, Agha conceded Pakistan’s results against India in the tournament, including all three defeats and the final loss by five wickets.
“We are not playing good cricket against them, and if you look at it overall, we are still behind them. Every team has an era -maybe this is theirs. We used to beat them in the ’90s; now they are beating us, and you will see very soon we will start beating them,” he said.
Zubair Amin is a Senior Journalist at NewsX with over seven years of experience in reporting and editorial work. He has written for leading national and international publications, including Foreign Policy Magazine, Al Jazeera, The Economic Times, The Indian Express, The Wire, Article 14, Mongabay, News9, among others. His primary focus is on international affairs, with a strong interest in US politics and policy. He also writes on West Asia, Indian polity, and constitutional issues. Zubair tweets at zubaiyr.amin
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