The India-Pakistan match stirred a huge ‘no-handshake’ controversy, as the Men in Blue refused to shake hands with the Pakistani side after the match concluded. Even Pakistan head coach Mike Hesson said that he and Pakistan skipper Salman Agha were waiting near the Indian area but Suryakumar Yadav and rest of the team didn’t turn up.
India stance left many former Pakistan cricketers, management and Pakistan Cricket Board furious following which Salman Ali Agha did not turn up for the post-match presentation. Even PCB lodged a complaint against the match referee Andy Pycroft and threatened to boycott the Asia Cup 2025.
The controversy escalated when PCB lodged a protest to ICC and urged for removal of match referee Andy Pycroft who had asked Saman Ali Agha not to approach Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav for a handshake. He communicated the decision passed onto him by the ACC officials. According to ICC, the match referee was acting as per the instructions he received on behalf of the Indian team.
But now according to the new report is unlikely that Pakistan will boycott and will continue playing in the Asia Cup 2025. It is also important to note that, India and Pakistan both are in Group A, with India already qualified and Pakistan on brink of qualification it is expected that both the nations will again play against each other on September 21.
According to a report by Times of India, Pakistan is unlikely to boycott the Asia Cup 2025 and will continue in the tournament. Even in a report by ESPN Cricinfo, Pakistan has not taken any formal stance on boycotting the tournament after ICC rejected its plea to take action against Andy Pycroft.
