No handshakes between India and Pakistan players as political tension spills onto field

The strained political relations between India and Pakistan spilled onto the cricket field when no handshakes were exchanged between players — before or after their Asia Cup game in Dubai.

The Pakistan Cricket Board said match referee Andy Pycroft of Zimbabwe requested both captains — Suryakumar Yadav of India and Salman Ali Agha of Pakistan — not to shake hands during the pre-game coin toss on Sunday.

The PCB, in a late-night statement released in Urdu to domestic media, described Pycroft’s decision as “against sportsmanship” and said team manager Naveed Akram Cheema registered a “formal protest against the match referee’s behavior” with the International Cricket Council. The ICC is yet to issue a public response.

“Utterly disappointing to witness the lack of sportsmanship,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi wrote in a post on X. “Dragging politics into the game goes against the very spirit of sports. Lets hope future victories are celebrated by all teams with grace.”

Naqvi is also the current president of the Asian Cricket Council and demanded “an immediate removal” of Pycroft from further duties at the Asia Cup.

Suryakumar, who hit the winning runs for India, didn’t wait for the customary handshakes with opposing players after the match before walking to the dressing room along with his teammate Shivam Dube.

Agha reacted by skipping a post-match TV interview with former India international cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar, a move which Pakistan coach Mike Hesson described as a “follow-on effect.”

“We were ready to shake hands at the end of the game, we obviously are disappointed that our opposition didn’t do that,” added Hesson, a New Zealander who was appointed to the Pakistan job in May. “We sort of went over there to shake hands and they’d already gone into the changing room.

“That was a disappointing way for the match to finish, and a match we were disappointed for the way we played but we were certainly willing to shake hands.”

Sunday’s game was the first between the top cricket teams from India and Pakistan since the Pahalgam attack in April, when gunmen opened fire on a group of tourists in Indian-controlled Kashmir.

India is the designated host of the eight-nation Asia Cup, but the Twenty20 tournament is being played in the United Arab Emirates because the India and Pakistan cricket teams don’t play on each other’s territory.

There was also uncertainty over India’s participation in the Asia Cup until the government clarified that the cricketers would be allowed to compete against Pakistan in multinational tournaments.

Suryakumar said 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.

“Our government and BCCI, we were aligned today,” Suryakumar said in a post-match news conference. “We came here to just play the game. We stand with all the victims of Pahalgam terror attacks, stand with their families, and express our solidarity.”

Both teams are likely to play again in the Super 4 stage later this week, if they place first and second in Group A. MDT/AP