Asia Cup 2025, Super Four, Match 2: India and Pakistan avoid handshake at toss for second time in a row

Indian and Pakistan are clashing once again in the Asia Cup 2025, this time in Match No. 2 of the Super Fours round at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Just like in their first group encounter, tensions were visible at the toss, as Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav and Pakistan skipper Salman Ali Agha did not shake hands. Both captains approached the toss but avoided any formal handshake, reflecting the intense rivalry between the two sides.

Andy Pycroft, who officiated as the match referee during their earlier group match, was again in charge of overseeing the proceedings. The continued lack of handshake at the toss underscores the high-stakes nature of the fixture. Notably, the handshakegate incident has become the hot topic of debate after the previous face-off between the two sides.

The no-handshake controversy has continued since the previous meeting between India and Pakistan, where Indian players left the field after winning the match without shaking hands with their counterparts. This incident upset PCB chief Mohsin Naqvi, who also serves as chairperson of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), leading him to complain to the ICC to remove Pycroft from the officials’ list.
 
The ICC dismissed a circulating video involving Pycroft and the Pakistan team management, warning against spreading misinformation. The governing body explained that the gathering was intended to resolve the earlier misunderstanding.
 
With stakes even higher this time, both teams are determined to win the Super Four clash. Earlier, India defeated their arch-rivals by seven wickets in the group-stage encounter and will aim to replicate that performance in Dubai once again.

"We'll bowl first. Looks a nice track and yesterday there was dew. Since first round we were thinking we're playing a knockout tournament, nothing changes. That was a completely different wicket (in Abu Dhabi). Quite normal, just another game. Bumrah and Varun come back for Arshdeep and Harshit," said Suryakumar at the toss.

"Would've bowled first as well. It's a new game, new challenge. The mood is very normal. Pitch looks to be on the slower side. Want to start well with both bat and ball. Two changes. Hasan Nawaz and Khushdil Shah not playing," the Pakistani captain explained.

Playing XI

India:

Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Sanju Samson(w), Suryakumar Yadav(c), Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy

Pakistan:

Saim Ayub, Sahibzada Farhan, Fakhar Zaman, Salman Agha(c), Hussain Talat, Mohammad Haris(w), Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed