Asia Cup final: Pakistan captain breaks silence on no handshake saga vs India
Asia Cup final: Pakistan cricket team captain Salman Agha has commented on the no handshake controversy with India in the Asia Cup so far, saying that he’s never witnessed anything like that in his entire career.
India captain Suryakumar Yadav refused to shake hands with his Pakistan counterpart in the group stage fixture of the tournament, and later didn’t engage in customary handshake after the match as well.
The behaviour continued in the super 4 fixture as well, as India again left the ground and only shook hands with the umpire. As India and Pakistan are set to meet again in the Asia Cup final, Salman Agha commented on the controversy and said that he hasn’t seen anything like that in his life. He also stated that such things are not good for the game.
“As far as handshakes are concerned, I’ve been playing professional cricket since 2007 at the under-16 level. I’ve never seen two teams not shaking hands during the match. Even my father is a big cricket fan, I’ve heard stories about the game from him. He never told me that anything like that happened in the past, that two teams playing cricket didn’t shake hands. I’ve always heard that no such thing has ever happened on a cricket field. India and Pakistan have played earlier as well when the relations between the two countries were even worse. Even then, there used to be handshakes. According to me, no handshakes are not good for cricket,” said Agha in the pre-match press conference.
Furthermore, Agha also responded to a question where a journalist asked him about Suryakumar Yadav reportedly not attending the captain’s photoshoot ahead of the final. The Pakistan skipper replied that it’s upto them if they want to attend.
“They can do whatever they want, we will just follow the protocol. Rest is upto them, if they wanna come, then come and if they don’t. We can’t do anything,” he added.
Asia Cup final: India and Pakistan are set to lock horns for the third time in the tournament on Sunday, September 28 at Dubai International Cricket Stadium. The Men in Blue have beaten their arch-rivals in both meetings in the tournament so far and will look to continue their dominant record. On the other hand, Pakistan have only lost to India in the tournament and will look to avenge their last two losses against the arch rivals to clinch their third Asia Cup title.
