India’s Suryakumar Yadav talks to Shivam Dube throughout Asia Cup 2025 conflict at Dubai Worldwide Cricket Stadium, Dubai, UAE, September 14, 2025. — ReutersAgha skips pre-match press convention.Sports activities psychologist joins Pakistan squad.Andy Pycroft stays in cost as match referee.
Pakistan is about to face arch-rival India in a Tremendous-4 encounter of the ACC Males’s T20 Asia Cup 2025 at present (Sunday) on the Dubai Worldwide Cricket Stadium, with stakes excessive after the handshake controversy in the course of the first match between the 2 sides.
The Suryakumar-led facet is coming into the conflict unbeaten with three wins in as many matches within the Group stage, whereas Pakistan managed to defeat two affiliate groups, UAE and Oman, however suffered a defeat towards the arch-rival in a one-sided encounter final Sunday.
The fallout from final week’s controversies has spilled over into the build-up, including political undertones to a contest already brimming with historical past, rivalry, and fervour.
The drama started when the Indian captain crossed all boundaries of sportsmanship by utilizing his post-match presentation speech to tug politics into cricket, a transfer described by many observers as “unprecedented” and “damaging for the spirit of the game”.
Compounding the stress was India’s refusal to trade a standard handshake on the toss ceremony, an act considered by Pakistan’s camp as disrespectful and intentionally provocative.
Issues escalated to the purpose the place the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) thought-about pulling out of the Asia Cup altogether. The scenario was defused solely after the match referee, Andy Pycroft, admitted to mishandling features of the controversy and expressed remorse, in keeping with PCB.
Nevertheless, the Worldwide Cricket Council (ICC) has but to provoke any formal inquiry into the matter, one thing that has left the PCB deeply dissatisfied.
To bolster psychological toughness, a sports activities psychologist Dr Raheel Karim has been drafted into the squad to assist gamers regain focus and resilience.
In the meantime, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Mohsin Naqvi additionally met staff members in the course of the apply session on the Dubai Sports activities Metropolis Academy spherical and had dialogue with the pinnacle coach Mike Hesson.
On the tactical entrance, Pakistan face a two-pronged problem, deciding on the best XI and dealing with the toss if luck once more favours them. Sources in Dubai revealed that the administration is contemplating fielding an additional pacer rather than Khushdil Shah, relying on how the pitch appears to be like on Sunday night.
If situations stay just like final week, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf will stay the frontline seamers, with a doable third pacer becoming a member of them.
In the meantime, top-order batsmen admitted in Saturday’s staff assembly that they’d performed “rash shots” and gifted away their wickets in earlier matches. In keeping with a supply aware about discussions, the batsmen vowed to not repeat these errors, promising as an alternative to bat with larger self-discipline and accountability.
One other tactical consensus was that chasing can be the safer guess. Data again this up as over 70% of matches on the Dubai Sports activities Metropolis Stadium have been gained by the facet batting second, largely on account of higher situations beneath lights.
Including gasoline to the fireplace, Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha skipped Saturday’s pre-match press convention. Whereas no official cause was cited, insiders counsel it could be linked to the PCB’s ongoing standoff with the ICC. Notably, that is the second consecutive time Pakistan has cancelled its press briefing after the notorious “handshake incident”.
Andy Pycroft stays in cost as match referee for the Dubai leg, regardless of Pakistan’s demand for a full-fledged inquiry into final week’s occasions, a requirement the ICC has but to noticeably entertain.
Sunday’s Tremendous 4 conflict is not any peculiar contest. It carries the burden of unresolved controversies, bruised egos, and the simmering rivalry of two cricketing powerhouses. For Pakistan, the problem is not only to beat India on the sector, however to rise above the off-field turbulence that continues to solid a shadow on the match.
With hundreds of thousands of followers watching worldwide, Dubai as soon as once more turns into the stage for an encounter the place cricket, politics, and satisfaction collide, making this showdown greater than only a sport.
