Salman Agha hits back at Suryakumar Yadav over handshake row ahead of remaining, backs Haris Rauf despite tremendous: ‘I haven’t…’
Updated on: Sept 27, 2025 08:50 pm IST
Salman finally gave his take on the handshake row and said he has not seen anything like that on the matter while suggesting that it isn’t good for cricket.
Pakistan skipper Salman Ali Agha has finally spoken out about the handshake row with the Indian team during the ongoing Asia Cup 2025. The rivalry between the two teams has intensified during the tournament, though India has clearly dominated in terms of performance, with most of the attention on off-field antics rather than the quality of play.
Tensions between the two sides have been running high after India’s refusal to do a traditional handshake with Pakistan players to show solidarity with the Pahalgam attack victims.
It escalated further when the Pakistan Cricket Board accused match referee Andy Pycroft of blocking the customary handshake between India’s Suryakumar Yadav and Pakistan captain Salman in the course of the group stage match. The PCB even threatened to withdraw from the collection if Pycroft wasn’t changed, however the ICC stood agency and rejected their demand.
Ahead of the massive remaining towards India, Salman lastly gave his tackle the matter and stated he has not seen something like that on the matter whereas suggesting that it is not good for cricket.
“I started playing professional cricket since 2007, and I have not seen two teams not shaking hands. My father is also an avid cricket fan and I have heard stories from him too, so you can go back 20 years further and such an incident hasn’t happened. I have heard nothing like this has happened in the past. India and Pakistan have played in the past, too, where the situations were worse than the current times, but still players used to shake hands. I think not shaking hands with each other isn’t good for cricket,” Agha stated within the pre-match press convention.
“I have no problem with aggression”: Salman Agha
The gamers of each groups have been concerned within the heated altercations greater than as soon as within the Super 4 match when Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill have been smashing the Pakistan bowlers throughout the park. The duo exchanged phrases with Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf.
Meanwhile, Haris was fined 30 per cent of his match charges for impolite and aggressive behaviour.
Salman stated he does not have any issues with the bowlers exhibiting some aggression on the sector.
“If you take away the aggression from the fast bowlers, then I don’t think he will bowl with the same effectiveness he should have, so I have no problem with that. If any individual wants to get aggressive on the field, be it from our side or their side, they are most welcome,” he added.
