Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha claims Suryakumar Yadav 'shook hands' with him in private; slams India for 'disrespecting cricket'

Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha slammed India for disrespecting cricket during the Asia Cup, claiming Suryakumar Yadav shook hands in private but refused to do the same in front of the cameras. He also stated that his side posed for pictures with the trophy as they wanted to fulfill their obligations.

Pakistan skipper Salman Ali Aga has claimed that India skipper Suryakumar Yadav shook hands with him twice in private while denying to do the same when the cameras were on.

TimesofIndia.com in Dubai: Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha has claimed that India skipper Suryakumar Yadav did shake hands with him in private at the start of the Asia Cup tournament but refused to do the same when the cameras were on. "He shook hands with me in private at the start of the tournament," Agha told reporters after the final, which India won by 5 wickets. "Both at the pre-tournament press conference and when we met in the referee's meeting. But when they're out in front of the cameras, they don't shake our hands. I'm sure he's following the instructions he's been given, but if it was up to him, he'd shake hands with me," he added.

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The Pakistan captain did not mince his words and slammed India for disrespecting cricket. In dramatic scenes, India chose not to receive the Asia Cup trophy from Asian Cricket Council (ACC) and Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Mohsin Naqvi. Things got even more complicated when Naqvi left the venue with the trophy resulting in the Indian cricket team being unable to lift the title for the ninth time. "What India has done in this tournament is very disappointing," he said. "They're not disrespecting us by not shaking hands—they're disrespecting cricket. Good teams don't do what they did today. We went to pose with the trophy on our own because we wanted to fulfill our obligations. We stood there and took our medals. I don't want to use harsh words, but they've been very disrespectful. This is the first time I've ever seen this happen. Whatever happened in this tournament was very bad, and I hope it stops at some stage because it's bad for cricket," he added. The Pakistan captain blamed India for not sending the right message to cricket fans around the world. "I'm not just a Pakistan captain, I'm a cricket fan. If a kid is watching in India or Pakistan, we're not sending them a good message. People think of us as role models, but if we're behaving like this, we're not inspiring them. What happened shouldn't have happened, but you should ask the people (India) responsible for this rather than me." Pakistan lost all three games to India, including the final by five wickets. "We are not playing good cricket against them, and if you look at it overall, we are still behind them. Every team has an era—maybe this is theirs. We used to beat them in the '90s; now they are beating us, and you will see very soon we will start beating them," he said.

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Agha concluded the press conference by saying that the Pakistan cricket team will donate their match fees to the "Pakistani civilians who were killed" during Operation Sindoor in May. "As a team, we are donating our match fees to our civilians who were affected during the ‘Indian attack.’"

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