Team India continued their dominance in the ongoing Asia Cup as they registered a thumping seven-wicket victory over arch-rivals Pakistan at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday (September 14).

However, what dominated headlines wasn’t just the result. It was the refusal of Suryakumar Yadav and his troops to engage in the customary handshake with their Pakistani counterparts both before and after the contest.

After the win, Suryakumar defended the move not to shake hands with Pakistan players, saying that few things in life are bigger than sportsmanship spirit.

The Indian captain’s response came when a journalist asked whether the gesture was against sportsman's spirit.

"Few things in life are ahead of sportsman spirit. We stand with all the victims of the Pahalgam terror attack and we stand with their families. As I said, we dedicate this win to our brave armed forces who took part in Operation Sindoor," Suryakumar said in the post-match presser.

He hinted that the decision not to shake hands was pre-planned. "Our government and BCCI, we were aligned together. The rest, we came here, we took a call. I feel we came here just to play the game. I think we gave them a proper reply," the skipper added.

The match was played in the backdrop of heightened tensions between the two nations following the Pahalgam terror attack and the retaliatory Operation Sindoor earlier this year.

Despite the calls for boycott, the BCCI agreed to play against Pakistan in the continental showpiece. The Indian board’s stand to face the butter rivals aligns with the government's new policy.

As per the Union Sports Ministry's notification issued last month, India can play Pakistan in "international and multilateral events", but can't engage in "bilateral sports events in each other's country".

Suryakumar Yadav faced social media backlash after he was seen shaking hands with Pakistan skipper Salman Ali Agha during the captains' meeting at the pre-tournament press conference in Dubai last week. He was also subjected to criticism for greeting Pakistan Cricket Board chief Mohsin Naqvi, who also serves as the Asian Cricket Council chairman.

Suryakumar mentioned that the Indian team had been keen to avoid the noise on social media in order to remain on the job.

"When it comes to the discourse on social media, me, my team-mates and the members of the support staff decided on the day we landed in Dubai that we will try and cut outside noise by 70-80 per cent."

"We thought by doing so, we would be able to execute our plans better. I didn't know what was happening on the outside, my team keeps me away from all that. That's when you can go into the ground with a clear mind," he remarked.