DUBAI: A frosty moment set the tone for the Asia Cup 2025 clash as Pakistan skipper Salman Ali Agha and India’s Suryakumar Yadav avoided a handshake during the toss at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday.
After winning the toss, Salman Ali Agha elected to bat first and walked straight past India’s team, while Suryakumar Yadav mirrored the gesture.
Both leaders appeared to ignore each other during the ceremonial proceedings.
Matches between the neighbours always attract global attention, but this time, the occasion carries a different sentiment.
The fallout from the May conflict — including disputes over downed aircraft, ceasefire breaches and political rhetoric — continues to overshadow sporting ties, amplifying the significance of this encounter.
Social media was abuzz with Indians calling for a boycott of Sunday’s Asia Cup game with Pakistan, as people from the neighbouring nation called on their government to cancel the match with the Green Shirts.
Echoing their sentiments, Indian opposition parties also called it an insult to the victims of the Pahalgam terror attack and to the Indian soldiers as New Delhi blames Islamabad for the unfortunate incident — allegations that Islamabad has denied.
Despite Pakistan’s recent performance, the overall T20I head-to-head record favours India, who have won 10 of the 13 encounters. In the Asia Cup T20 format, India leads 2-1.
Their most recent meeting came during the 2024 T20 World Cup in New York, where Rohit Sharma’s India narrowly defeated Babar Azam’s Pakistan in a low-scoring thriller.
Playing XIs
Pakistan: Saim Ayub, Sahibzada Farhan, Mohammad Haris (wk), Fakhar Zaman, Salman Ali Agha (c), Hasan Nawaz, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem, Abrar Ahmed.
India: Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah.
