In Dubai, Pakistan’s captain, Salman Ali Agha, has brought to light a contentious issue, claiming that India’s skipper, Suryakumar Yadav, engaged in private handshakes at the tournament’s outset but conspicuously avoided doing so in front of the cameras.
Addressing reporters after a recent match, Agha elaborated, “He shook hands with me in private at the start of the tournament. Both at the pre-tournament press conference and when we met in the referee’s meeting. But when they’re out in front of the cameras, they don’t shake our hands. I’m sure he’s following the instructions he’s been given, but if it was up to him, he’d shake hands with me.”
Agha did not hold back his disappointment, strongly criticizing India’s conduct and accusing them of disrespecting the spirit of cricket. “What India has done in this tournament is very disappointing,” he stated. “They’re not disrespecting us by not shaking hands—they’re disrespecting cricket. Good teams don’t do what they did today. We went to pose with the trophy on our own because we wanted to fulfill our obligations. We stood there and took our medals. I don’t want to use harsh words, but they’ve been very disrespectful. This is the first time I’ve ever seen this happen. Whatever happened in this tournament was very bad, and I hope it stops at some stage because it’s bad for cricket.”
The Pakistan captain further emphasized the importance of setting a positive example for young fans worldwide. “I’m not just a Pakistan captain, I’m a cricket fan. If a kid is watching in India or Pakistan, we’re not sending them a good message. People think of us as role models, but if we’re behaving like this, we’re not inspiring them. What happened shouldn’t have happened, but you should ask the people (India) responsible for this rather than me.”
Pakistan’s team faced a challenging tournament, losing all three of their games against India, including the final by five wickets. Agha acknowledged his team’s performance, remarking, “We are not playing good cricket against them, and if you look at it overall, we are still behind them. Every team has an era—maybe this is theirs. We used to beat them in the ’90s; now they are beating us, and you will see very soon we will start beating them.”
In a final statement, Agha announced that the Pakistan cricket team would be donating their match fees to “Pakistani civilians who were killed” during ‘Operation Sindoor’ in May. “As a team, we are donating our match fees to our civilians who were affected during the ‘Indian attack.’”