After India’s dominant win over Pakistan in Asia Cup 2025, Pakistan captain Salman Agha skipped the post-match presentation. Coach Mike Hesson cited Indiaโs refusal to shake hands as the reason, calling it a disappointing end despite their readiness to engage.
India handed Pakistan an embarrassing seven-wicket defeat in the ongoing Asia Cup 2025. Be it with the bat or with the ball, the Salman Agha-led side couldnโt match Indiaโs prowess. For India, Kuldeep Yadav once again had a sensational game, picking up three wickets, while Axar clinched two. The left-arm leg-spinner was also adjudged the Player of the Match for his phenomenal performance with the ball.
In the batting department, Abhishek Sharma stole the show. He smacked 31 runs off just 13 balls in the powerplay. That set the tone for the middle order batters to come in and capitalise. Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma played to their merit as India picked up a comfortable win in the end.
Meanwhile, after the win, the Indian players refused to shake hands with the Pakistan team. Suryakumar and Shivam Dube, the batters present on the crease, went straight back into the dressing room and shook hands only with the other Indian players. In protest to that, Salman Agha didnโt attend the post-match presentation and head coach Mike Hesson, who was present in the press conference, explained the reason behind it.
That was a disappointing way for the match to finish: Hesson
โWe were ready to shake hands at the end of the game. We are disappointed that our opposition didnโt do that. We went there to shake hands, but they had already gone to the change rooms. That was a disappointing way for the match to finish. We were disappointed with the way we played but we were willing to shake hands,โ Hesson said about the no handshake saga.ย
โI think it was just flow of the feet to the fact that we obviously came to engage and shake hands at the end of the match and that didnโt happen,โ he added while speaking about Salman missing the post-match presentation.