Indian skipper skips trophy photoshoot, both captains speak to their countrymen after toss

Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav skipped trophy shoot with his Pakistani counterpart Salman Agha before the final of the Asia Cup in Dubai.

The geo-political tension between the countries reared its ugly face once again, bringing disrepute to the game of cricket.

Asia Cup has been engulfed with controversies. First, Pakistan refused to travel to India to play in the continental showpiece which forced the organisers to shift the tournament to the UAE.

After the first match between the neighbouring nations, the Indian captain refused to shake hands with Pakistan skipper, citing the Pahalgam attacks as reason for the boycott.

Few months back both the nuclear-power nations indulged in brief cross border skirmishes as India launched Operation Sindoor in the aftermath of Pahalgam attack.

This did not end here. The captains of both the countries spoke to their countrymen after the toss, which sparked another debate among the people.

Such an incident has happened for the first time in the history of the game in 175 years. Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav was interviewed by Ravi Shastri, while Pakistan skipper Salman Ali Agha spoke with former great Waqar Younis.

This followed India’s insistence that their captain be interviewed only by an Indian presenter — not a neutral one as initially offered by the organisers. Consequently, Pakistan also had its captain interviewed by a Pakistani presenter.

The same arrangement will continue for the post-match presentations, where each captain will only face questions from a presenter of his own country.