India and Pakistan will face each other in the Asia Cup 2025 final in Dubai on September 28.
Pakistan skipper Salman Ali Agha has reacted to the 'no handshake' saga with India in the ongoing Asia Cup so far, saying that he’s never witnessed anything like that in his life while also warning that such actions could harm the spirit and goodwill of cricket between the two nations.
India skipper Suryakumar Yadav refrained from shaking hands or acknowledging his counterpart in the group stage fixture of the tournament, and later didn’t exchange post-match pleasantries with the arch-rivals.
The trend continued in the Super 4 round as well, as the Men in Blue ignored the Pakistani players once again and only shook hands with the match officials.
As the two teams are set to lock horns again in the final, Agha addressed the controversy in the pre-match presser.
“As far as handshakes are concerned, I’ve been playing professional cricket since 2007 at the under-16 level. I’ve never seen two teams not shaking hands during the match. Even my father is a big cricket fan, I’ve heard stories about the game from him. He never told me that anything like that happened in the past, that two teams playing cricket didn’t shake hands. I’ve always heard that no such thing has ever happened on a cricket field. India and Pakistan have played earlier as well when the relations between the two countries were even worse. Even then, there used to be handshakes. According to me, no handshakes are not good for cricket,” Agha told reporters.
Moreover, Salman Ali Agha also reacted to question about Suryakumar Yadav reportedly not attending the captain’s photoshoot ahead of the title clash.
“They can do whatever they want, we will just follow the protocol. Rest is upto them, if they wanna come, then come and if they don’t. We can’t do anything,” he remarked.
The Pakistan captain further stated that he will give his players a free hand to showcase aggression when on the field.
Notably, opener Sahibzada Farhan had pointed his bat like a rifle after reaching half-century in the Super 4 clash against India while fast bowler Haris Rauf made gestures mimicking a crashing plane and holding up six fingers — widely interpreted as a reference to Pakistan’s baseless claims of downing Indian jets in the cross-border tussle earlier this year.
“Every individual has their own ways; if someone wants to be aggressive on the ground, then why not? If you take the aggression from a fast bowler, then what’s left?”
“Every player knows how to deal with their emotions. As a captain, I give a free hand to any player to react the way they want on the ground unless they disrespect or do something that would bring embarrassment to our people. Until someone does that, there is no problem from me,” Agha said.
Pakistan have lost their last seven matches to India across ODIs and T20Is, including twice in the Asia Cup by seven wickets and six wickets respectively.
While India will look to continue their dominant record, Pakistan will look to avenge their last two defeats against the traditional rivals to lift their third Asia Cup title.