Former Pakistan player Shoaib Akhtar criticized the Indian team for not shaking hands with their Men in Green counterparts after their Asia Cup encounter in Dubai on Sunday. The Indian batters Suryakumar Yadav and Shivam Dube promptly left the field after the match and went into the dressing room, snubbing the post-match handshakes with the Pakistan team. Later, Pakistan captain Salman Agha also skipped the post-match presentation ceremony due to this reason, coach Mike Hesson said.
“It is disheartening, disappointing and I am speechless and I don’t know what to say. Hats off to India. Just don’t make things political. Cricket match hain, isko political maat banao. Hum ne acchi statement di hai aapke liye. Hum bohut kuch bol sakte hai. Handshake kar lo. It’s a game of cricket. Show your grace. Hoti rehte hain ladayi jhagre, ghar me bhi ho jaati hain. Iski ye matlab toh nahi hain that you take it to the next level and go like this. Mujhse nahi hota. I will go shake hands with my enemies, it’s fine. Theek kiya Salman Ali Agha ne ki woh nahi gaya (Don’t make a cricket match political. We have said nice things about you. We can also say a lot of things. Just shake hands, it’s a game of cricket. Fights keep happening, even at home. That does not mean, you’ll take it to the next level. I wouldn’t have done that. I’ll go and shake my hands with my enemies. It’s fine. Salman Ali agha did the right thing by not going to the presentation ceremony),” Akhtar said after the match.
“When Kargil happened, we went to India and played there. We won tests, One Days there. We didn’t give statements like this. There’s conflict between the countries, it’s fine. This is not the platform to show solidarity. I am not saying you don’t show solidarity. We are also standing firm with our Pakistani army,” he added.
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While the match was pretty lopsided with India romping to a 7-wicket win, it was the handshakes or lack thereof that provided all the drama. It started during the toss itself when captains Suryakumar Yadav and Salman Ali Agha did not indulge in the customary handshake and then it continue after the match.
The Pakistan team have even lodged a complaint against India for not shaking their hands after the match, terming it unsporting and against the spirit of the game.
It was the first time that arch-rivals India and Pakistan faced off in a cricket match since the Pahalgam terror attacks earlier this year in April, which led to India launching retaliatory military action across the border in early May.
