India on Sunday beat Pakistan by seven wickets in the Asia Cup as the neighbors met for the first time since a military conflict between them in May, but tensions simmered after the match as India’s players left the field without shaking hands.
India captain Suryakumar Yadav defended the snub in his post-match news conference, saying that the team were “aligned with the [Indian] government and Board of Control for Cricket in India” in not shaking hands with the Pakistan team.
India resisted calls to boycott the T20 match between the nations, who have not played in any bilateral Test series since deadly attacks in Mumbai in 2008 were blamed on Pakistan militants.
Photo: AP
The hostilities in May left more than 70 people dead in missile, drone and artillery exchanges, before a ceasefire.
The conflict was triggered by an April 22 attack on civilians in Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir that New Delhi accused Pakistan of backing — a charge Islamabad denies.
Pakistan coach Mike Hesson told reporters he was “disappointed” with the Indian team’s decision.
“We were ready to shake hands at the end of the game,” the New Zealander said. “We are disappointed that the opposition did not do that.”
“We went over there, and they were already gone to the changing room, so that was obviously a disappointing way to finish the match,” he said.
Suryakumar, in the post-match presentation, said India took the match against Pakistan as “just another game” and dedicated the win to the Indian army.
“We stand with the victims of the families of the Pahalgam terror attack, and we express our solidarity,” Suryakumar said. “We want to dedicate today’s win to the armed forces.”
Pakistan’s team management issued a statement after the clash to say that they had “lodged a protest with match referee Andy Pycroft after the match.”
“The behaviour of Indian players was against the spirit of sportsmanship,” the statement added. “That is why skipper [Salman] Agha was not sent to the post match ceremony.”
On the field in Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Pakistan batted first, but were constrained to 127-9 in their 20 overs.
In reply, India lost two wickets after a fiery 31 off 13 balls from opener Abhishek Sharma, but Suryakumar hit an unbeaten 47 to achieve the target with 25 balls to spare.
Abhishek had come out roaring as he hit Pakistan pace spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi for a four and a six and, despite the fall of Shubman Gill in the next over, kept up the charge.
Swashbuckling Abhishek cracked four boundaries and two sixes before he mistimed another attempt for a maximum to be caught at long-off, off spinner Saim Ayub.
The captain, who turned 35 on Sunday, hit the winning six as Indian fans celebrated at a stadium dotted with empty seats, and the players from both teams went off without handshakes.
Earlier, India’s bowlers set up the dominant win as Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav combined to rattle the opposition batting.
Hardik Pandya struck in the first over to dismiss opener Ayub for a golden duck and fellow quick Jasprit Bumrah sent back wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Haris for three.
Sahibzada Farhan, who top-scored with 40, attempted to rebuild the innings along with Fakhar Zaman, who made 17, in a partnership of 39.
Axar broke the stand with his left-arm spin as he had Zaman caught out and in his next over had skipper Agha out for three.
Left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep came into the attack and struck twice on successive balls to pack off Hasan Nawaz (5) and Mohammad Nawaz (0) as Pakistan slipped to 64-6 inside 13 overs.
Wickets kept tumbling, but No. 9 Afridi took on the opposition attack with four sixes in his unbeaten 33 off 16 balls to push the total past 120 and play out Pakistan’s full 20 overs.
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