Salman Agha claims Suryakumar Yadav shook hands with him ‘privately’:PAK skipper copies SKY’s move, donates match fees to victims of ‘Indian attack’

On Sunday in Dubai, India defeated Pakistan by 9 wickets in the Asia Cup final to win the Asia Cup title for the ninth time. After the match, Pakistani captain Salman Ali Agha’s post-match comments raised eyebrows as he claimed Suryakumar Yadav shook hands with him ‘in private’. The Indian captain took a firm stance by not shaking hands with his counterpart during the three Asia Cup matches. A huge controversy unfolded after the first handshake snub, on 14 September, with Salman Ali Agha skipping the post-match press conference in retaliation. Now, Agha claims that Surya did shake hands with him, but he did so privately. That’s not all, after Suryakumar Yadav announced that he would donate his entire match fees to the Indian army and victims of the Pahalgam terror attack, Agha did the same and said that the Pakistani team would also donate their match fees to victims of ‘Indian attack’. Salman Agha copies Surya’s gesture, claims India ‘attacked’ Pakistan during Operation Sindoor “As a gesture, I want to donate my match fees from all the games in this tournament to the Indian Army. I don’t know if people will call it controversial, but for me, it’s the right thing to do,” said Surya in his post-match press conference. Salman Agha also copied the stance, saying, “We as a team, are donating our match fees to all the civilians who lost their lives during the Indian attack and to our kids who were affected by it. We are donating it to them.” Suryakumar shook hands in private The handshake controversy has been one of the biggest talking points during Asia Cup. Surya’s move not to shake hands with Salman during the 14 September contest resulted in Pakistan’s decision to complain against Andy Pycroft. They also wanted to boycott the UAE match, which was ultimately played but was delayed by 1 hour. Now Salman Agha has claimed that Suryakumar shook hands with him in private. “He shook hands with me in private at the start of the tournament,” said Salman. He added, “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 folloing the instructions he’s been given, but if it was up to him, he’d shake hands with me.” Indian Team Refused to Take Trophy from Naqvi The Indian cricket team refused to accept the award from Mohsin Naqvi, the President of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) and Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), after winning the Asia Cup 2025. Naqvi is also Pakistan’s Interior Minister. Captain Suryakumar Yadav made a gesture in front of his teammates as if he was carrying the trophy, even though his hands were empty. The rest of the players also celebrated, considering this as the real trophy. Actually, after the terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Kashmir Valley on April 22, protests against Pakistan have intensified in India. In response to this attack, India had launched ‘Operation Sindoor’, in which Pakistan received a strong response, yet it claimed it as its victory.
Naqvi waited for Team India for an hour Usually, the presentation ceremony takes place within minutes of the match ending, but after the final, there was a continuous delay. Pakistani players did not come to the field for the first hour. BCCI had made it clear that the Indian team was ready to receive the trophy from someone other than Naqvi. There was also talk of receiving the trophy from Khalid Al Zarooni of Dubai Sports City, who was present on the stage. But Naqvi was not ready to leave the stage. A senior BCCI official, on condition of anonymity, said, “If Naqvi had tried to forcibly hand over the trophy, then a formal protest would have been lodged.” Meanwhile, during the ceremony, sponsors’ awards were distributed. The Pakistani team received their awards from Aminul Islam Bulbul, President of the Bangladesh Cricket Board. But when the Indian team’s name was called, the ACC announced that the Indian team would not accept the awards. Presenter Simon Doull stated that India had refused to accept its awards and therefore the presentation ceremony was concluded there. After this, Naqvi descended from the stage, and surprisingly, the ACC staff also took the trophy and medals with them.