India captain Suryakumar Yadav again avoided a handshake with Pakistan’s skipper in the Asia Cup 2025, citing solidarity with victims of the Pahalgam terror attack. He said the decision was aligned with the BCCI and government to prioritise national sentiment.
India captain Suryakumar Yadav has once again avoided a handshake with Pakistan skipper Suryakumar Yadav in the ongoing Asia Cup 2025. After the previous encounter, the 35-year-old explained that the team management decided not to shake hands with the Pakistan cricketers to stand in solidarity with the families of the Pahalgam attack, where 26 people lost their lives. The act was repeated before the Super Four clash as well.
“Our government and BCCI – we were aligned today. Rest, we took a call [about not shaking hands]. We came here to just play the game. We have given a proper reply. A few things in life are ahead of sportsman spirit also. I’ve [said] it at the presentation as well, we stand with all the victims of Pahalgam terror attacks, stand with their families, and express our solidarity,” Suryakumar said after the previous match against Pakistan on September 14.
India win toss, elect to bowl
India won the toss and elected to bowl first in their first Super 4 clash of the Asia Cup 2025. After the toss, captain Suryakumar announced that the team has made tow changes in the playing XI, as Jasprit Bumrah and Varun Chakravarthy returned in place of Harshit Rana and Arshdeep Singh.
“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,” Suryakumar said after the toss.
India vs Pakistan Playing XIs
Pakistan (Playing XI): Saim Ayub, Sahibzada Farhan, Fakhar Zaman, Salman Agha (c), Hussain Talat, Mohammad Haris (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed
India (Playing XI): Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy