No handshake: Suryakumar Yadav repeats Agha snub at Asia Cup toss

DUBAI: The long-running handshake controversy resurfaced on Sunday as Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav once again refused to shake hands with Pakistan skipper Salman Ali Agha during the toss of the high-voltage ACC Men’s T20 Asia Cup 2025 final at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

After winning the toss, Suryakumar Yadav elected to bowl first and walked straight past Pakistan’s skipper to Ravi Shastri for the pre-match discussion, while Salman Ali Agha mirrored the gesture.

The handshake snub comes in the backdrop of an ongoing row between the arch-rivals, stemming from the group-stage clash, which attracted considerable attention both on and off the field.

Pundits called his decision to skip a customary handshake at the toss and political statements in the post-match interview “unprecedented” and “detrimental to the spirit of the game.”

The drama began when the Indian captain crossed all boundaries of sportsmanship by using his post-match presentation speech to drag politics into cricket, a move described by many observers as “unprecedented” and “damaging for the spirit of the game”.

Compounding the tension was India’s refusal to exchange a traditional handshake at the toss ceremony — an omission reportedly directed by match referee Andy Pycroft.

Matters escalated to the point where the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) considered pulling out of the Asia Cup altogether. The situation was defused only after Pycroft admitted to mishandling aspects of the controversy and expressed regret, according to PCB.

The Green Shirts set up a final against India after edging past Bangladesh by 11 runs in a Super Fours encounter on September 25. The final will be the first time the arch-rivals will face each other in the tournament’s history.

The 2016 champions have beaten every opposition on their path before swaggering into the final of the eight-team tournament.

Pakistan were defeated twice, first in the group stage and then in Super Fours, by an India team containing the world’s top-ranked batter and bowler in the T20 format in opener Abhishek Sharma and spinner Varun Chakravarthy.