Federal Information Minister Attaullah Tarar criticised the Indian cricket team for refusing to shake hands with Pakistani players after India’s victory in the Asia Cup 2025 match on Sunday, calling the act an example of politicising the sport.
“A nation which is morally bankrupt and which has no values will always resort to this kind of theatrics in sports when you [India] can’t win in the military field,” Tarar said while speaking at an event organised by the Institute of Regional Studies (IRS).
“They’re trying to politicise cricket,” the minister remarked, terming the New Delhi’s move as a failed attempt to save itself from embarrassment after military defeat against Pakistan in the May conflict, where its jets were shot down and Pakistan’s response to cross-border attacks prompted it to request a ceasefire.
Tarar’s remarks refer to the ongoing controversy which arose after Pakistan and India captains avoided handshake at the toss during their September 14 Asia Cup 2025 fixture, an omission reportedly directed by match refree Andy Pycroft.
The same was repeated towards the end of the match, when the players of the opposing teams shake hands as per cricketing tradition, where the Indian team skipped the customary post-match handshake.
While the Indian players congratulated each other at the dugout after the match, they refrained from acknowledging or shaking hands with the Pakistani team.
Pakistan’s players lined up expecting the customary handshake, only to see the Indian team retreat and close the dressing room doors.
India’s victorious captain, Suryakumar, defended his team’s decision not to shake hands with the Pakistan players saying that it was taken in alignment with their government and cricket board.
“We are aligned with the government and Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Some things are above sportsmanship. Is it really sportsmanship if you don’t even shake hands with the opposing team? That was our answer,” he said.
The move prompted a strong reaction from the cricketing fraternity as well as Mohsin Naqvi, who heads both the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and is also the serving head of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC).
Not only did Pakistan skipper Salman Ali Agha, in protest, refused to attend the post-match presentation ceremony, breaking from broadcast norms where captains usually share their thoughts, the PCB has filed a formal complaint with the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), calling for the removal of match referee Andy Pycroft from the ongoing Asia Cup 2025 — for reportedly instructing the omission of the customary handshake.
Apart from taking up the matter with the ICC, the PCB has also come down hard on its own Director of International Cricket Usman Wahla and has suspended him over failure to promptly forward an official letter to the ICC concerning the Asia Cup handshake controversy.
The Sunday’s match, the first ever since the two countries were involved in an armed conflict triggered by India’s cross-border attack, followed by Pakistan’s retaliation and launch of “Operation Bunyan-um-Marsoos”.
The hostilities left more than 70 people dead in missile, drone and artillery exchanges, before a ceasefire was reached eventually.
The neighbours have not met on either side’s soil in a bilateral series since 2012 and only play each other in international tournaments on neutral ground as part of a compromise deal.
