A day after Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav and other Indian players refused to shake hands with Pakistan after a commanding seven-wicket win in the Asia Cup 2025 on Sunday at the Dubai International Stadium, Pakistan’s team manager – Naveed Akram Cheema – filed an official complaint with the match referee – Andy Pycroft – on Monday.
Confirming the details, the Hindustan Times stated that the Pakistan management has officially lodged a complaint against the Indian team’s actions, saying they were against “the spirit of sports.”
The Pakistan Cricket Board shared an official statement over WhatsApp, confirming that match referee Pycroft informed Salman Agha not to shake hands with Suryakumar Yadav at the toss, but no directive was issued for the post-match formalities.
“The Pakistani cricket team manager Naveed Akram Cheema has officially lodged a protest against the Indian cricket team, calling the behaviour against the spirit of sports,” stated the official statement.
On Salman Agha’s missing from presentation:
The Pakistan captain did not come for the post-match interview with the official broadcaster, Sony. It has now been confirmed that that Salman Agha snubbed the post-match presentation with Sanjay Manjrekar because of the handshake gate.
“Salman Ali Agha skipped the post-match presentation in protest against the behaviour of the Indian team,” the statement added.
Customary handshakes, India’s response:
Waiting for the customary handshakes, the entire Pakistan lineup, led by captain Agha and coach Mike Hesson, approached the Indian dressing room. However, the Indian management shut the door and this closed chance of going out and offering their hand for the post-match formalities.
“We wanted to shake hands but disappointed that the opposition didn’t do that. Disappointed with the way we played, but we wanted to shake hands,” Hesson said. “Salman not coming for the post-match presentation was cause and effect after what happened,” he added.
Suryakumar dedicates win to the Indian Armed Forces:
Suryakumar Yadav dedicated India’s win to the Indian Armed Forces stating the entire contingent stands in solidarity with the Pahalgam terror attack victims.
“We stand by the families of the victims of the Pahalgam terror attack. We express our solidarity. Want to dedicate the win to all our armed forces who showed a lot of bravery. Hope they continue to inspire us all and we give them more reasons on the ground whenever we get an opportunity to make them smile,” he said right at the end of the post-match presentation.
This is a developing story, it will be updated shortly.
