Asia Cup 2025: Why Pakistan captain Salman Agha didn't attend post-match presentation against India? Revealed

Salman Agha-led side was thrashed by India in Dubai.

India defeated Pakistan convincingly in their Asia Cup 2025 match in Dubai on Sunday, September 14. In what was a much-hyped encounter between the arch-rivals, the Men in Blue registered a one-sided victory over the Green Shirts.

Following captain Salman Agha’s unexpected choice at the toss, Pakistan was put into bat first, and they had a rough start. Saim Ayub fell for a duck, and Muhammad Haris joined shortly after. Sahibzada Farhan held firm with a tough 40 from 44 balls, peppered with three sixes and a four, while Fakhar Zaman’s 17 provided brief resistance.

Shaheen Afridi, who bludgeoned an undefeated 33 off 16 deliveries and smashed four enormous sixes to propel Pakistan to 127/9 in their allocated 20 overs, provided the innings with a much-needed late spark. With figures of 3/18, Kuldeep Yadav stood out for India, with two each from Axar Patel and Jasprit Bumrah providing strong support.

In response, Shubman Gill was dismissed for ten, giving India’s chase a rocky start. However, Abhishek Sharma changed the course of events with a scorching 31 off only 13 balls, which was laced with two sixes and four boundaries. Suryakumar Yadav, the captain, took over after that and scored an undefeated 47 with five fours and a six. India easily surpassed the goal in 15.5 overs to win by seven wickets, thanks in part to Tilak Varma’s steady 31 off 31.

Saim Ayub’s 3/35 was Pakistan’s sole bright spot with the ball. Kuldeep Yadav was rightfully named Player of the Match after his explosive three-wicket burst.

“Just a flow-on effect”—Mike Hesson on why Salman Agha skipped the post-match presentation

Soon after Suryakumar ended the match with a six, he and Shivam Dube walked off the field without shaking hands with the Pakistani side. Even when the Pakistan team waited on the ground for customary handshakes, the Indian team refused to come out for the same.

So as a retaliatory action, Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha chose to boycott the post-match presentation as well, with no Pakistani players present during the proceedings.

Mike Hesson, the coach of Pakistan, was questioned about Agha’s absence from the presentation ceremony later in the press conference. He acknowledged that the Pakistani squad was unhappy with the events following the game, but he did not specifically state that India’s handshake snub was the cause of the behaviour.

“I think what happened was just a flow-on effect. We were ready to shake hands. We are obviously disappointed that our opposition didn’t do that. We sort of went over there to shake hands, but they had already gone to the changing room. That was a disappointing way for the match to finish. We were willing to shake hands. We were keen to shake hands at the end of the match, but that didn’t happen, and that was pretty much the end of it,” Hesson said during the chat with the media.

Pakistan will now clash with the UAE on September 17, and India will play Oman on September 19 in their final group A games.

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