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Salman Agha accuses Suryakumar Yadav of hypocrisy, claims India captain shook his hand during 'match referee meeting'
After losing the final by five wickets against India, Salman Agha revealed that Suryakumar Yadav shook his hands twice before the start of the tournament.
Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha has revealed that he had shaken hands with India skipper Suryakumar Yadav prior to the tournament on a couple of occasions. India asserted their dominance over Pakistan across three high-stakes encounters in just two weeks, outplaying their rivals comprehensively each time. On all three occasions, the Men in Blue maintained a firm stance by refusing the customary handshake with the Pakistan players, underscoring both their superiority on the field and the lingering tensions off it.
The situation intensified when the Pakistan Cricket Board claimed that match referee Andy Pycroft had prevented the traditional handshake between India’s Suryakumar and Pakistan captain Salman during the group stage clash. The PCB even threatened to pull out of the series if Pycroft wasn’t replaced, but the ICC rejected their demand and held its ground.
Meanwhile, after losing the Asia Cup final by five wickets against India, Salman revealed that Surya shook his hands twice before the start of the tournament - first in the captain's press conference and then during the referee's meeting. Although the handshake at the press conference was captured on camera, the incident during the referee meeting was revealed for the first time, and no footage exists of it.
"He shook hands with me in private at the start of the tournament," Agha told reporters.
"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," he added.
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Agha took a dig at the Indian team for the handshake row.
"What India has done in this tournament is very disappointing," he said. "They're not disrespecting us by not shaking hands—they're disrespecting cricket.
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“India have been very disrespectful”
Suryakumar and Co. decided not to receive the trophy from ACC president Mohsin Naqvi, who doubles as PCB chief and a minister in Pakistan.
He expressed disappointment over how the trophy presentation unfolded, emphasizing that while his team fulfilled their obligations, such behavior sets a negative example and hoped it doesn’t continue in future tournaments.
"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," he added.
