India again refuses handshake with Pakistan in Asia Cup

AFP/APP

Dubai: India skipper Suryakumar Yadav once again declined to shake hands with Pakistan captain Salman Agha after winning the toss and electing to field in their Asia Cup Super Four contest on Sunday.

The incident reignited tensions after India had already angered Pakistan with a similar “no-handshake” stance in their previous meeting at the same Dubai venue.

This is the first cricketing clash between the two rivals since a four-day cross-border conflict in May left more than 70 people dead.

Adding to the controversy, Pakistan lodged a protest with the International Cricket Council (ICC), alleging that match referee Andy Pycroft of Zimbabwe had instructed Agha not to approach Suryakumar for a handshake. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has demanded Pycroft’s removal from their matches and even threatened to withdraw from the eight-team T20 competition.

Because of strained political ties, the nuclear-armed neighbours only face each other at neutral venues during multi-nation tournaments.

India entered the Super Four stage unbeaten with three group-stage victories. “Since the first round, we were thinking we’re playing a knockout tournament, nothing changes,” Suryakumar told reporters.

Pakistan, who qualified as second in their group with two wins and one loss, cancelled their pre-match press conference. However, captain Agha maintained that “the mood is normal” within the squad.

Teams

India: Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Sanju Samson (wk), Suryakumar Yadav (capt), Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy

Pakistan: Saim Ayub, Sahibzada Farhan, Fakhar Zaman, Salman Agha (capt), Hussain Talat, Mohammad Haris (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed

Umpires: Ahmad Shah Pakteen (AFG), Gazi Sohel (BAN)

TV Umpire: Ruchira Palliyaguruge (SRI)

Match Referee: Andy Pycroft (ZIM)