Explained: Why India captain Suryakumar Yadav avoided handshake with Pakistan's Salman Agha during toss

Mayank Bande

Explained: Why India captain Suryakumar Yadav avoided handshake with Pakistan's Salman Agha during toss image

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The India and Pakistan match in Asia Cup 2025 went as scheduled in Dubai on Sunday, September 14, despite the recent tensions between the neighboring countries.

After winning the toss, Pakistan's Salman Agha decided to bat first as they did in the tournament opener, where they thrashed Oman by 93 runs.

Interesting, amid all the boycott calls for the match from the Indian fans, captain Suryakumar Yadav made a bold move by refusing to shake hands with the Pakistan captain.

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IND vs PAK: Suryakumar Yadav ignores Pakistan captain's handshake after toss

After Ravi Shastri spoke to Agha at the toss, where Pakistan went with the same XI and decided to bat, both the captains crossed paths when it was Yadav's turn to speak with Shastri.

However, as most fans noticed, the India captain ignored Agha's handshake and walked past him to speak at the toss.

This is a rare incident in which a captain passed the opposition captain without a handshake, which is considered customary in the spirit of the gentleman's game.

 

It is considered a bold stand against cross-border terrorism as India did not boycott the match like the India Champions recently did in the World Championship of Cricket.

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Mayank Bande

Mayank Bande has been a content producer at The Sporting News since 2023 and has extensive experience in cricket writing. His work has previously appeared on platforms like OneCricket and Last Word on Sports. Beyond cricket, Mayank closely follows football as an FC Barcelona supporter, along with tennis and Olympic sports. Despite holding a degree in Business Administration, he chose to pursue a career in sports, bringing sharp analysis to his writing as someone who once played cricket.