India refuse handshake as Agha skips post-game presentation as Suryakumar Yadav said the move was planned in advance.
Agha skips presentation after India refuse handshakes with Pakistan players.
Tensions between India and Pakistan spilt onto the pitch in Dubai on Sunday as India defeated Pakistan by seven wickets without exchanging handshakes.
The victorious captain, Suryakumar Yadav, claimed that Pakistan was clearly disappointed by India’s decision to not shake hands with the opposition prior to the game, which was in line with the BCCI and the Indian government. Pakistan’s coach, Mike Hesson, claimed that after the match, the team had been waiting to shake hands only to find that India was ignoring them.
As a result, their captain, Salman Agha, did not attend the customary post-match TV interview. Andy Pycroft, the match referee, has expressed Pakistan’s disapproval of these incidents.
In a statement released hours after the game, the PCB claimed that the manager of Pakistan’s team had filed a “formal protest” against him for “requesting the captains not to shake hands during the toss.”
This was the first time the two countries had met since cross-border hostilities broke out between India and Pakistan after the Pahalgam terror assault in April. In the months that followed, there had been a lot of talk about India boycotting the match.
Only after the Indian government announced its official position regarding athletic interactions with Pakistan—approving meetings at multilateral events but declining to participate in bilateral competitions—did clarity finally surface. How the game would unfold in this environment was the only thing left to determine.
“Our government and BCCI – we were aligned today,” Suryakumar said at his post-match press conference. “Rest, we took a call [about not shaking hands]. We came here to just play the game. We have given a proper reply.”