India captain Suryakumar Yadav, on Sunday, ignored the pre-match captain’s photoshoot at the ground with the Asia Cup title as he refused to share the platform with Pakistan skipper Salman Ali Agha. The act left Salman posing with the title alone.
The incident happened less than an hour before the toss for the Asia Cup 2025 finale between India and Pakistan at the Dubai International Stadium. The two arch-rivals are facing each other for the third time in the tournament, with India having won on both previous occasions. This is also the first time that the two are facing each other in an Asia Cup final.
Before the start of the match, both captains were asked for a pre-final photoshoot with the Asia Cup trophy, but Suryakumar did not turn up. Salman, however, posed with the trophy alone.
Earlier this week, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had lodged a complaint to the ICC, saying that Suryakumar’s comment at the end of the September 14 group-stage game against Pakistan in Dubai, where the India captain had dedicated the win to the victims of the Pahalgam terror attack, constituted a breach of the ICC regulation to avoid political messaging. PCB demanded a Level 4 sanction – the most serious breaches of the ICC Code of Conduct.
The India batter reportedly pleaded not guilty, but it was rejected by match referee Richie Richardson and he was fined 30 per cent of his match fee. BCCI has appealed against the verdict.
Andy Pycroft not the match referee
Pakistan also heaved a sigh of relief before the final as Pycroft was not assigned the match referee duties for the game in Dubai on Sunday, Richardson will be the match referee in the final.
Earlier in the tournament, Pycroft had been at the center of the no-handshake storm, after being accused of sparking the fiasco that marred the event, with PCB alleging that he had asked the two captains not to shake hands during their group-stage clash in Dubai. The Pakistan board complained to the ICC and demanded his removal from the tournament, with a threat of a pull out. However, their plea was rejected twice.
Later, Pakistan claimed that the Zimbabwean apologised to the Pakistan camp before the start of their final group game against the UAE, which saw an hour-long delay owing to the stand-off between PCB and ICC.
The apex body later clarified that Pycroft did not apologise and rather set up the meeting only to clear the air on what had happened on September 14.
