NEW DELHI: There is plenty of noise about India refusing to shake hands with Pakistan players after their Asia Cup 2025 Group A match in Dubai on Sunday — and rightly so. The customary handshake was expected, but never came. What slipped under the radar, however, was the fact that India’s players also denied handshakes to the match officials, hurrying straight into their dressing room and locking the door behind them.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!The dramatic scenes unfolded after India’s commanding seven-wicket victory over their arch-rivals at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Captain Suryakumar Yadav finished the chase in style with a towering six, but instead of walking across to greet his opponents or officials, he shook hands only with batting partner Shivam Dube before leading his men briskly off the field. Within seconds, India’s support staff shut the dressing room door, leaving Pakistan’s players stranded in the middle and match referee Andy Pycroft looking on in confusion.
The snub sparked instant outrage. Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha staged a silent protest by skipping the post-match presentation ceremony altogether. Head coach Mike Hesson later voiced his frustration at the media briefing: “We were ready to shake hands at the end of the game. We are disappointed that the opposition did not do that. We went over there and they were already gone to the changing room. That was obviously a disappointing way to finish the match.”
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Visibly upset, Hesson even rushed towards India’s dressing room, only to find the doors bolted. He was later seen in a tense discussion with match referee Pycroft. Broadcasters were forced into an awkward reshuffle as the Pakistan captain’s absence left the official post-match ceremony incomplete.Pakistan’s management issued a strongly worded statement soon after: “The behaviour of Indian players was against the spirit of sportsmanship. That is why skipper Salman Agha was not sent to the post-match ceremony.”India, meanwhile, stood their ground. At the press conference, Suryakumar Yadav defended the move, framing it as a political and emotional decision.“The team was aligned with the government and the Board of Control for Cricket in India in not shaking hands with the Pakistan team. We stand with the victims and families of the Pahalgam terror attack and dedicate today’s win to the armed forces.”The encounter, the first between the two nations since a deadly military conflict in May that left more than 70 people dead, was always bound to carry political undertones. The April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam — which New Delhi blamed on Pakistan — continues to cast a shadow over cricketing ties.While India’s comfortable victory on the field was never in doubt, it is the post-match drama — the refusal to acknowledge not only Pakistan’s players but even the match officials — that has now become the defining talking point of the Asia Cup clash.
