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Cricket Players'A few things in life are ahead of sportsman spirit': Suryakumar Yadav after India opt not to shake hands with Pakistan
The Indian team, determined to take a stand, refused to shake hands with Pakistan after beating them by a resounding 7-wicket margin.
Done and dusted! That’s how one can sum up India’s absolutely convincing win over Pakistan in Sunday’s Asia Cup 2025 match in Dubai. The gulf between the quality of the two teams keeps getting wider, just like India’s margin of wins. This was India’s 11th T20I win against Pakistan in their last 14 matches. Clearly, the tide has changed. This is an Indian team that dominates, leads by example and sets the blueprint of success. However, these standards aren’t always set on the field. Sometimes, the true class of an individual and team off the field trumps the on-field highs and achievements, and this was exactly the case with India captain Suryakumar Yadav.
The Indian team, determined to take a stand, refused to shake hands with Pakistan after beating them by a resounding 7-wicket margin. After Surya smashed the winning six, he and Shivam Dube immediately took off, as did the players waiting in the dugout, heading towards the dressing room. Players of Pakistan were stunned at first, but came to terms with the fact that the situation is far from normal.
Surya then exuded class, when he dedicated India’s win to the victims of those who lost their lives during the heinous Pahalgam terror attacks. Even during the post-match press conference, all Suryakumar was focused on was to reveal Team India’s state of mind amid all the boycott calls, and did it with absolute panache when asked about India’s decision not to shake hands with the Pakistan counterparts.
"I think our government and the BCCI were perfectly aligned. We came here and took a call. We came here just to play the game, and we gave a proper reply," Surya said.
"I feel a few things in life are ahead of a sportsman's spirit also. And I have already answered it. I have told it at the presentation as well - that we actually stand with all the victims of the Pahalgam terror attack. And we stand with their families also, express our solidarity.
"Also, as I said, we dedicate this win to our brave armed forces who took part in Operation Sindoor. And as they continue to inspire us all, we will try our best whenever given an opportunity to inspire them as well, if possible."
India made rather short work of Pakistan, winning the match comfortably. The players hardly had to break a sweat. Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah struck in the first two overs of the match after Salman Agha won the toss and reduced Pakistan to 6/2. Fakhar Zaman and Sahibzada Farhan briefly restored order with a partnership, yet the innings seemed to be heading nowhere with boundaries drying up. Kukdeep Yadav and Axar Patel, along with Varun Chalaravarthy spun a web around Pakistan’s batting order, which crumbled under pressure. At one stage, even getting to 100 looked nothing short of a herculean task but Shaheen Afridi’s 16-ball 33 cameo ensure Pakistan added some respect to their total.
Indian openers began in style, with Abhishek Sharma showing no respect to Shaheen. His fiery 13-ball 31 helped India knock off almost half their target inside the Powerplay, and although India lost both their openers, SKY, Tilak Varma and Shivam Dube took India over the finish line with ease.
