The handshake row between India and Pakistan resurfaced in their Asia Cup Super 4 clash in Dubai, with Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav once again refusing to shake hands with his Pakistani counterpart Salman Agha at the toss on Sunday.
India won the toss and chose to bowl.
The Asia Cup has been dominated as much by geopolitics as cricket. Their Group A clash on 14 September ended not just in a seven-wicket win for India, but also in controversy after Yadav and his players refused to engage in the traditional post-match handshake.
After India’s six-wicket win on Sunday, Indian batters once again walked straight to their dressing room instead of shaking hands with their opponents.
India chased down Pakistan’s 172 with six wickets in hand and seven balls remaining, handing them their second defeat of the tournament.
Players briefly approached the Pakistan side but ended up shaking hands only with the umpires and match officials before turning away.
Yadav brushed aside talk of an India-Pakistan “rivalry”, saying he saw little difference in Pakistan’s performance on Sunday compared to their seven-wicket defeat in the opening game, which India wrapped up with 25 balls remaining.
“I would like to say one thing on this question. I feel that you should stop asking this question on the rivalry.”
He continued: “Standards and rivalry are the same. According to me, if two teams play 15-20 matches and if [head-to-head] it is 7-7 or 8-7, then that is called a rivalry. But 13-0, 10-1….I don’t know what the stats are. But this is not a rivalry anymore. But yeah, I feel we played better cricket than them.”
For the record, India has now strung together seven consecutive wins over Pakistan in men’s internationals, their last defeat coming at the 2022 Asia Cup in Dubai.
After their loss in the 14 September match, Pakistan accused India of poor sportsmanship after their players refused to shake hands before or after their Asia Cup match in Dubai, which India won by seven wickets.
Pakistan later lodged a formal complaint, blaming match referee Andy Pycroft for directing the captains to skip the ritual.
Pakistan’s midweek game against the United Arab Emirates was delayed by an hour in the fallout over Indian players refusing to shake hands with Pakistani players both at the toss and after a Group A match on 14 September.
In cricket, it’s customary for on-field players from the batting team to shake hands with the fielding side and umpires after the end of the innings. It is also standard practice for the entire batting team to shake hands with their opponents after the match.
Pakistan proceeded to play UAE after claiming match referee Andy Pycroft had apologised for the “miscommunication” at the game against India.
Pycroft was again the ICC’s appointed match referee for Sunday’s Super 4 match.
The group game was the first between the India and Pakistan cricket teams since the Pahalgam attack in April, when gunmen opened fire on a group of tourists in Indian-controlled Kashmir.
Indian prime minister Narendra Modi’s nationalist government had pointed fingers at Pakistan following the Pahalgam massacre, accusing its neighbour of harbouring and backing militant groups responsible for attacks on Indian civilians and security personnel.
The Indian airstrikes that followed, dubbed “Operation Sindoor”, were met with artillery, drone and missile attacks by Pakistan, bringing the nuclear-armed neighbours to the brink of all-out war.
Fighting ended after four days when American president Donald Trump announced that the warring countries had reached a ceasefire.
India is the designated host of the eight-nation Asia Cup, but the Twenty20 tournament is being played in the UAE because the India and Pakistan cricket teams don’t play on each other’s territory.
Suryakumar has previously said that the Indian team was aligned with the Board of Control for Cricket in India and government instructions that players wouldn’t shake hands with Pakistan players.
Pakistan will take on Sri Lanka in a must-win Super Four clash in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, while India are set to meet Bangladesh in Dubai the following day.
