Batting legend Sunil Gavaskar mocked the Pakistan National Cricket Team captain, Salman Agha, for skipping the post-match presentation ceremony after the end of the Asia Cup 2025 game against the India National Cricket Team.
Sunil Gavaskar said that the absence of Salman Agha from the ceremony didn’t make any difference because everybody only wanted to hear the winning captain’s thoughts.
Pakistan faced utter humiliation in the India clash
The environment in the high-profile India vs Pakistan Asia Cup 2025 match at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday was not hostile.
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Instead, it was just one team – India – giving a brutal bashing to the other – Pakistan – and showing who is the real boss of the game of cricket.
The Men In Blue started off the match with a wicket in the first over and continued their dominance across all 35.5 overs. After restricting Pakistan to 127/9, they chased down the total with 7 wickets in hand and 25 balls remaining.
Ahead of the commencement of play, at the toss, Suryakumar Yadav didn’t shake hands with Salman Agha, and the same thing was witnessed after the game as India refused to interact with Pakistan players.
In the protest against India not following an unwritten custom after the contest, Pakistan captain Salman Agha skipped the post-match presentation, and coach Mike Hesson called India’s decision “disappointing” while speaking to the press.
Sports and politics have never been separate – Sunil Gavaskar
Speaking after the match, the great Sunil Gavaskar bluntly said that “sports and politics have never been separate,” and nobody was interested in hearing the excuses of losing captain Salman Agha at the toss.
“Sports and politics have never been separate – you only need to look back over the years to see that. I wouldn’t criticise someone for taking that stance, and I wouldn’t want to get into a debate about it.
“When you start discussing political references, you get into policies and complexities that are frankly beyond my pay grade. I don’t think it made much difference anyway – people mainly wanted to hear what the winning captain had to say, not excuses from the other side,” Sunil Gavaskar told India Today.
On the field there are times when people abuse you – Sunil Gavaskar
Sunil Gavaskar further justified India’s stance of snubbing the customary post-match handshake ceremony, saying that it’s well within players’ rights to do so.
“I didn’t actually see it myself, but ultimately it’s up to each individual what they want to do. On the field there are times when people abuse you and say things that aren’t acceptable.
“If someone has been calling you names, asking that you go and shake hands with them is too much to expect. I don’t know exactly what happened on the field or whether words were exchanged, but if an individual decides not to shake hands, they are perfectly within their rights to do so,” Gavaskar added.
Also Read: ‘I stopped watching…’: Sourav Ganguly breaks silence on no-handshake row in India vs Pakistan clash
