Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha recalled the first instance of the handshake row during the Asia Cup 2025 and said that his side even went to the Indian team dressing room after the game for the formality. The Asia Cup last year saw India and Pakistan face three times and also started the no handshake policy towards their arch-rivals.
Suryakumar Yadav and his side adopted the approach in line with the national sentiment following the Pahalgam attacks. Speaking on a podcast, Agha said that the info about no handshake taking place was only told to him just before the toss took place.
“I went for the toss. Before that, there was a press conference. There was a shake-hand, trophy shoot, there was a handshake,” Agha recalled in a video shared on social media. “When I was going for the toss, I was pretty normal. Obviously, I had an idea that it wouldn’t be that normal, but I didn’t know there would be no handshake. I didn’t have that idea.”
“I went for the toss with our media manager, Naeem Bhai,” Agha explained. “The match referee, I don’t remember his name, he took me aside and said, ‘We’re going to do it like this. There won’t be a handshake.’ So, please look at that. I said, ‘It’s fine if there’s not going to be a handshake. I am not too keen either.’ So, this is what happened. He told me beforehand that there won’t be a handshake.”
WE WENT TO THEIR ROOM, STILL DIDN’T GET HANDSHAKE
Agha said that he went with the team to greet the Indian team after the match but found that the door remained shut on them.
“After that, the match ended. We lost the match. We were going to their pavilion (dressing room) for the handshake. They still didn’t do the handshake,” said Agha.
The Pakistan captain said that he isn’t a fan of the no handshake policy and felt that it sent the wrong sort of message to the up-and-coming talent.
“And I’ve said it many times, I don’t think this is right,” Agha stressed. “Because if we’re representing a nation, and I play for Pakistan, people look at me, and the kids will pick up on that. And if this happens in a club game the next day, it will be because of me at the end of the day. Because I’m also a part of it. So, when you’re a role model, then I don’t think it’s a good thing to do.”
The no-handshake policy between India and Pakistan has since continued in the Women’s ODI World Cup 2025, the Rising Stars Asia Cup as well as the Under-19 Asia Cup. The U19 World Cup match between the two followed the same pattern.
Even during the India vs Pakistan game in Colombo during the T20 World Cup 2026, the policy continued between India and Pakistan players.
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