The T20 Asia Cup T20 Group A Championship ended on 14th, and India and Pakistan finished their first fight since the military conflict between the two countries broke out this year. However, the Indian team's refusal to shake hands with Pakistan players after the victory has sparked widespread controversy, which violates the practice of both sides to shake hands after the game, and has caused many criticisms.
According to the "Indian Times" report on the 15th, after the game, Pakistani team players have waited in the field, ready to complete the handshake ceremony with the Indian team members in accordance with the custom. but for the Indian team to win a hit captain Suaykumar did not lead the team to the Pakistani team, instead with their own team members, after handshake each other, went straight to the dressing room, completely unattended Pakistani team members.
In fact, this “handshake wave” was buried long before the start of the game. In the pre-match decision to hold the order of throwing coins, Sujakumar did not interact with Pakistani captain Salman. According to the BBC, for the practice of the Indian team, Pakistani board coach Hessen was disappointed, saying that “the team has long been prepared for the post-match handshake agreement”. Pakistani board team leader Chima protested to the referee, believing that the referee allowed the Indian team to leave the game without the handshake. The final match referee apologized to the Pakistani board for the matter.
After the incident, the chairman of the Asian Panel Council, Nakwe, publicly stated on social media, saying that "the lack of sporting spirit that has occurred today is disappointing, bringing politics into the sporting field, completely contrary to the nature of the sporting spirit."
Faced with external questions about whether the team’s behavior is against the sporting spirit, Sujakumar said at a post-match press conference: “There are things in life that have long gone beyond the sporting spirit ... We came here only for the game and gave the Pakistani team a perfect field response.”
Subsequently, Suyakumar further argued that although he had to play against Pakistan by relevant commitments, the team decided to express its solidarity with the victims of the shooting incident in Indian-controlled Kashmir by not shaking hands.
Reuters said that as the first cricket match between the two sides since the outbreak of the military conflict between India and Pakistan in April this year, there were voices in India a few days ago calling for the cancellation of the match with Pakistan. In the end, with the judgment of the High Court of India and the firm position of the Cricket Control Board, the match was played as originally planned.
The BBC that if both India and Pakistan can successfully advance in subsequent matches, the two teams are highly likely to meet again in the subsequent phase of this Asian Cup.