Pakistan National Cricket Team captain Salman Agha has finally opened up on the no-handshake policy followed by the India National Cricket Team in the Asia Cup 2025 against the Men In Green.
Salman Agha said that before the recent no-handshake controversy in the Asia Cup 2025, he had never witnessed two teams not shaking hands, irrespective of how bad the situation was between them.
India humiliate Pakistan by denying handshakes
During the first Asia Cup 2025 clash between India and Pakistan, the Suryakumar Yadav & Co. humiliated the Men In Green by refusing to shake hands with them.
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At the toss, Suryakumar Yadav didn’t greet his counterpart, and after India registered a dominant 7-wicket victory in the Group Stage match, they refused to shake hands with Salman Agha & Co.
Pakistan players kept waiting for the customary handshakes, but Indian players closed the door of the dressing room. After that, PCB filed an official complaint with the ICC, putting the entire blame on match referee Andy Pycroft for the no-handshake row and demanding his sacking, but the ICC denied it.
Then, during the Super Four match between India and Pakistan, Suryakumar Yadav totally ignored Salman Agha at the toss, and after registering another dominant 6-wicket victory, they refused to shake hands with the Pakistanis.
India and Pakistan will next lock horns with each other in the final of the Asia Cup 2025 at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday, September 28, and the no-handshake policy is likely to continue
No handshakes are not good for cricket – Salman Agha
Speaking at the pre-match press conference, Pakistan skipper Salman Agha slammed Indian players for not shaking hands with Pakistanis and said it is bad for the game.
“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,” said Agha in the pre-match press conference.
Salman Agha further said that both India and Pakistan will be under pressure in the final, and they would be doing their very best to beat the Men In Blue in the summit clash. He said:
“In the final, both teams will be under pressure. We will make every effort to win the final. What the Indian media is saying has nothing to do with us.”
Agha also warned India, saying that they might have saved their best batting performance for the final of the Asia Cup 2025 against India. He stated:
“We all know that we haven’t batted well throughout the tournament. Who knows, maybe we’ve saved our best performance for the Final.”
