India captain Suryakumar Yadav backed off after the coin toss and skipped the customary handshake with his Pakistan counterpart Salman Ali Agha ahead of their important Asia Cup 2025 encounter on Sunday at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Unlike the previous game, buzz around this India vs Pakistan was marred by the boycott calls on social media in the light of the Pahalgam attack.
Salman Agha won the toss and elected to bat first. After speaking to toss presenter Ravi Shastri, Salman also didn't shake his hands with Suryakumar and straightaway walked back to his team. Earlier, Indian assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate told media the players have discussed the approach to the game and are aware of the people's sentiments.
Meanwhile, as far as the match is concerned, the Indian players have restrained themselves from making any aggressive celebrations upon taking a wicket. The Men in Green have been in total disarray since the first over and have already lost half of their side within the first 10 overs.
India have already won their first game against United Arab Emirates by nine wickets. A win against Pakistan would certainly cement India's spot in the Super 4 stage. On the other hand, Pakistan have defeated Oman in their first encounter by 97 runs. Earlier, during the captain's press conference, Salman didn't shake hand with Suryakumar on the stage.
As far as the game is concerned, Pakistan managed to put 127/9 in 20 overs. Kuldeep Yadav (3/18) and Axar Patel (2/18) stifled Pakistan middle order with regular strikes and tight bowling lines. Sahibzada Farhan scored a valiant 40 (44 balls, 1x4s, 3x6s) but the rest of the Pakistani batters cut a sorry figure on a docile track here. Shaheen Afridi hit a crucial 16-ball 33 not out towards the end to take Pakistan past 100-run mark.
India: Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson(w), Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy
Pakistan: Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Mohammad Haris(w), Fakhar Zaman, Salman Agha(c), Hasan Nawaz, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem, Abrar Ahmed
