New Delhi: Team India’s decision to avoid shaking hands with Salman Ali Agha-led Pakistan’s team during the Asia Cup 2025 resulted in a massive controversy. Following their victory over Pakistan in the group stage match, skipper Suryakumar Yadav did not exchange pleasantries with the Pakistan captain.
The rest of the team also followed SKY’s approach, taking the same stance on the two other occasions they played against each other. This decision was directly influenced by the political tensions between India and Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attacks.
Australian cricketers criticized India’s no-handshake incident
Meanwhile, ahead of the three-match ODI series against Australia, both the men and the women’s Australian cricketers criticized India’s no-handshake decision by sharing a video that mocked the incident.
The video shared by Kayo Sports on social media, saw an anchor say, “We all know India is on its way. But we’ve identified one critical weakness. We know that they’re not huge fans of the traditional greeting (handshake), so we can throw them off before we’ve even bowled a ball,” an anchor added.
AUS players pre-India clip mocks India no-handshake theatre vs Pak. Why Aussie media & players laughing at stance sold as national pride? @BCCI @JayShah @GautamGambhir @narendramodi @ICC @MithunManhas @vikrantgupta73 @rawatrahul9 @mufaddal_vohra @PadmajaJoshi @ShivAroor pic.twitter.com/lSbuyhEcui
— Maham Fazal (@MahamFazal_) October 14, 2025
Australian team suggested idea for greeting Indian team
Players from both the Australian men’s and women’s cricket teams responded with several idea for alternative greetings to try with the Indian players.
Meanwhile, Australia Test captain Pat Cummins hasn’t recovered yet, with recent scans showing that his back stress fracture has not yet healed.
Pat Cummins early return looks slim
The 32-year-old pacer, has been out of action from past few weeks, and he won’t feature in the first Test of The Ashes, which is scheduled to start form November 21. The Australian medical team is considering whether it’s worth taking any risk with Cummins this summer.
Amid all the speculation about his fitness, the Aussie captain spoke out, telling SEN that his chances of an early return are slim, “I wouldn’t put a percentage on it, but I’d probably say less likely than likely,” he said, as quoted from SEN. “But we’ve still got a bit of time,” he added.
