Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha recalled the first instance of a handshake during the 2025 Asia Cup and said his side even went to the Indian team’s dressing room after the match for a formality. Last year’s Asia Cup saw India and Pakistan face off three times and also started a no-handshake policy against their arch-rivals.
Suryakumar Yadav and his party accepted approach in line with national sentiments after the Pahalgam attacks. Agha said on the podcast that he was told that there was no handshake just before the toss.
“I went to the draw. There was a press conference before that. There was a handshake, a shot for the trophy, a handshake,” Agha recalled in a video shared on social media. “When I went to the hurling, I was pretty normal. Of course I had an idea that it wasn’t going to be that normal, but I didn’t know there wasn’t going to be a handshake. I didn’t have it.”
“I went into it with our media manager Naeem Bhai,” explained Agha. “The referee of the match, I don’t remember his name, took me aside and said, ‘We’re going to do it this way. There will be no handshake.’ So please check it out. I said, ‘That’s fine as long as there’s no handshake. I’m not too excited either.’ So this happened. He told me in advance that there would be no handshake.”
Salman Ali Agha played down the India-Pakistan handshake row:
Before the match, there was a press conference and trophy shooting, and there was also a handshake. So when I went for the roll I was pretty normal. I said, “Of course I had an idea that things pic.twitter.com/zImpcx7pG1— TEJASH (@Tejashyyyyy) May 2, 2026
WE WENT TO THEIR ROOM STILL NOT GETTING A HANDSHAKE
Agha said he went with the team to greet the Indian team after the match but found that the door remained closed in front of them.
“Then the game was over. We lost the game. We went to them in the pavilion (locker room) to shake hands. They still didn’t give it,” Agha said.
The Pakistan captain said he was not a fan of the no-handshake policy and felt it sent the wrong kind of message to the up-and-coming talent.
“And I’ve said it many times, I don’t think it’s right,” Agha stressed. “Because if we’re representing a nation and I’m playing for Pakistan, people look at me and kids notice. And if it happens the next day in a club game, it’s because of me at the end of the day. Because I’m part of it too. So, if you’re a role model, then I don’t think it’s a good thing.”
The no-handshake policy between India and Pakistan has since continued in the 2025 ODI Women’s World Cup, the Rising Stars Asia Cup as well as the Under-19 Asia Cup. U19 World Cup match between the two followed the same pattern.
Even during the India vs Pakistan match in Colombo during the T20 World Cup 2026, politics continued between the players of India and Pakistan.
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Published on:
02 May 2026 14:45 IST
