Former Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar has voiced his displeasure at India’s refusal to engage in the customary post-match handshake after Sunday’s Asia Cup 2025 Group A clash in Dubai, calling the gesture “disheartening” and urging both sides not to drag politics into cricket.
Speaking on a Pakistani television show after the match, Akhtar said he was left disappointed by the Indian team’s stance.
“I’m speechless. It is disheartening to see and I don’t know what to say. Hats off to India. Just don’t make things political. Cricket match hain isko political mat banao. Hum ne acchi statement di hai aapkee liye. Hum bohut kuchh bol sakte hai. Hoti rehte hain ladayi jhagre, ghar me bhi ho jaati hain. (Don’t make a cricket match political. We have said nice things about you. We can say a lot of things about the no handshake. Fights happen, even inside your house. Forget it, move on. It is the game of cricket, shake your hands, show your grace),” he said.
The star pacer also backed Pakistan skipper Salman Ali Agha’s decision to boycott the post-match presentation ceremony in protest. “Thik kiya Salman Ali Agha ne, wo nahi gaya post match mein, good (Salman Ali Agha did the right thing, he did not go to the post match ceremony, good),” Akhtar remarked.
The controversy erupted after India’s seven-wicket win over Pakistan at the Dubai International Stadium. While the match itself underlined the gulf between the two sides, with India chasing down 128 in just 15.5 overs, attention quickly shifted to the absence of handshakes. Indian players, including skipper Suryakumar Yadav and Shivam Dube, walked off without engaging their Pakistani counterparts.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) maintained that the decision was a “team call” in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 civilians earlier this year. India’s Armed Forces subsequently carried out “Operation Sindoor” against terrorist infrastructure across the border. At the post-match presentation, Yadav dedicated the victory to the victims and the forces involved in the operation.
Pakistan, meanwhile, reacted sharply, with head coach Mike Hesson and PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi both criticising the move as being “against sportsmanship.”
Naqvi, who also heads the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) even called for the immediate removal of match referee Andy Pycroft from the Asia Cup roster, alleging he had advised Pakistan skipper Salman Agha not to shake hands before the toss.