Dubai: Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha has accused the Indian team of disrespecting cricket after skipper Suryakumar Yadav refused to shake hands with him in public during the Asia Cup, despite doing so privately. “He shook hands with me in private at the start of the tournament — both at the pre-tournament press conference and during the referee’s meeting,” Agha told reporters following the final, which India won by five wickets. “But when the cameras are on, they don’t shake our hands. I’m sure he’s following instructions, but if it were up to him, he’d shake hands with me.”
The Pakistan captain was particularly critical of India’s conduct during the trophy presentation. “What India has done in this tournament is very disappointing,” Agha said. “They’re not disrespecting us by not shaking hands — they’re disrespecting cricket. Good teams don’t do what they did today. I don’t want to use harsh words, but they’ve been very disrespectful. Whatever happened in this tournament was very bad, and I hope it stops because it’s bad for cricket.” Agha concluded the press conference by announcing that the Pakistan cricket team would donate 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.”
