Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha (centre) and India’s Suryakumar (proper) on the toss for the ACC Males’s T20 Asia Cup 2025 ultimate on the Dubai Worldwide Cricket Stadium in Dubai on September 28, 2025. — PCB
DUBAI: In a repeat of previous encounters, Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav as soon as once more refused a customary handshake with Pakistan skipper Salman Ali Agha on the toss, marking the third such snub because the arch-rivals locked horns within the high-pressure ultimate of the ACC Males’s T20 Asia Cup 2025.
After successful the toss, Suryakumar Yadav elected to bowl first and walked straight previous Pakistan’s skipper to Ravi Shastri for the pre-match dialogue, whereas Salman Ali Agha mirrored the gesture.
The handshake snub comes within the backdrop of an ongoing row between the arch-rivals, stemming from the group-stage conflict, which attracted appreciable consideration each on and off the sector.
Pundits known as his determination to skip a customary handshake on the toss and political statements within the post-match interview “unprecedented” and “detrimental to the spirit of the game.”
The drama started when the Indian captain crossed all boundaries of sportsmanship through the use of 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 conventional handshake on the toss ceremony — an omission reportedly directed by match referee Andy Pycroft.
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 Pycroft admitted to mishandling features of the controversy and expressed remorse, in accordance with PCB.
The Inexperienced Shirts arrange a ultimate towards India after edging previous Bangladesh by 11 runs in a Tremendous Fours encounter on September 25. The ultimate would be the first time the arch-rivals will face one another within the event’s historical past.
The 2016 champions have overwhelmed each opposition on their path earlier than swaggering into the ultimate of the eight-team event.
Pakistan had been defeated twice, first within the group stage after which in Tremendous Fours, by an India staff containing the world’s top-ranked batter and bowler within the T20 format in opener Abhishek Sharma and spinner Varun Chakravarthy.
