In a late-night development on September 14, Pakistan lodged a protest with the Asian Cricket Council over the Indian players' refusal to shake hands with them after the Asia Cup match in Dubai.
India thrashed Pakistan by seven wickets, restricting them to 127 for nine. Spinners Axar Patel (2/18 in 4 overs), Kuldeep Yadav (3/18 in 4 overs) and Varun Chakaravarthy (1/24 in 4 overs) spun a web around the Pakistani batters, before skipper Suryakumar Yadav (47*) finished off the chase with a six in 15.5 overs.
However, he did not wait to shake hands with the Pakistani players after the match and walked straight to the dugout. Skipper Salman Ali Agha even queued up with his teammates for the customary handshake and walked towards the Indian dugout, but no Indian players responded.
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) labelled India's actions as "unsporting". "Team manager Naveed Cheema lodged a strong protest against Indian players' behaviour of not shaking hands. It was deemed as unsporting and against the sport of the game. As a protest we did not send our captain to the post match ceremony," read a PCB statement.
Yadav said the decision to not shake hands with the Pakistani players was a unanimous decision, and that it was the team’s way of showing solidarity with the families of the victims of Pahalgam terrorist attack in April.
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The match was played amid boycott calls by netizens and immense pressure on the BCCI for going ahead with the match.
Following the handshake snub, Pakistan skipper Agha boycotted the post-match presentation ceremony.
Said coach Mike Hesson: "We wanted to shake hands but disappointed that the opposition didn't do that. Disappointed with the way we played, but we wanted to shake hands. Salman not coming for the post-match presentation was cause and effect after what happened."
Earlier, during the toss too, the two skippers skipped the customary handshake and also did not make any eye contact.
India and Pakistan are likely to square up again at the same venue on September 21, in the Super Fours stage.