The fiercest rivalry in world cricket rarely ends without a subplot, and the latest India-Pakistan clash in Dubai was no exception. India’s emphatic seven-wicket win on Sunday should have been the only headline, but what followed after the final ball quickly snowballed into controversy, which is the now-infamous “handshake row.”
When Suryakumar Yadav and Shivam Dube walked straight off the field without shaking hands, it took the Pakistani players by a surprise. But the word out there is that the team made a fuss about it despite knowing that there’d be no handshakes. This was the first meeting between India and Pakistan since the Pahalgam terror attacks in April, which killed 26 Indian tourists.
Suryakumar’s gesture afterwards, dedicating the victory to the armed forces, only showed why India had chosen silence over symbolism. Pakistan’s response, though, turned the post-match moment into a full-blown flashpoint.
Anil Choudhary calls it ‘unnecessary’
Former umpire Anil Choudhary was quick to dismiss the episode as needless noise. “I think that after losing the match, it was a part of turning things around,” he told ANI. “Otherwise, in any law book, in any ICC’s playing conditions, there is nothing in writing. I understand the shakehand controversy you are referring to, the handshake started about 15–20 years ago. The captain used to shake hands before. So, I think all that is unnecessarily created, and there is no need for it.”
Anil Choudhary looked at it differently. For the former international umpire, there was nothing to fuss over. Handshakes, he reminded, aren’t written into cricket’s laws. They’re a modern courtesy, not a mandate. Yet Pakistan refused to move on, skipping the presentation ceremony and even dragging ICC referee Andy Pycroft into the row with a formal complaint.
PCB escalates the row
The controversy spiralled further when Pakistan threatened to pull out of their do-or-die clash against the UAE. The team even delayed its departure from the hotel on match day, forcing the game to start an hour late. Their demand was the removal of Andy Pycroft from the Asia Cup panel. But the ICC stood its ground, backing the Zimbabwean veteran.
Choudhary was unequivocal in his defence of the referee. “All these are unnecessary things. He is a seasoned and old referee from the ICC elite panel. He is a very well-known player of Zimbabwe, and his track record is so good.”
Also, the PCB uploaded a muted video, stating that Pycroft apologised to the team over his miscommunication. Funnily, the move has now backfired on Pakistan, as the ICC is likely to take action against them for violations in the Players and Match Officials Area (PMOA) in Dubai during the PAK & UAE match.
