Info Minister Attaullah Tarar censures India for trying to save itself from embarrassment after military defeat in May
\n ISLAMABAD
\nFederal Information Minister Attaullah Tarar on Tuesday assailed India for bringing politics into sports after Indian cricket team players refused to shake hands with their Pakistani counterparts in their recent Asia Cup 2025 match.
\n\u201cA nation which is morally bankrupt and which has no values will always resort to this kind of theatrics in sports when you [India] can\u2019t win in the military field,\u201d Tarar said while speaking at an event organised by the Institute of Regional Studies (IRS).
\n\u201cThey\u2019re trying to politicise cricket,\u201d the minister remarked, terming the New Delhi\u2019s move as a failed attempt to save itself from embarrassment after military defeat against Pakistan in the May conflict, where its jets were shot down and Pakistan\u2019s response to cross-border attacks prompted it to request a ceasefire.
\nTarar\u2019s remarks refer to the ongoing controversy which arose after Pakistan and India captains avoided handshake at the toss during their September 14 Asia Cup 2025 fixture, an omission reportedly directed by match refree Andy Pycroft. The same was repeated towards the end of the match, when the players of the opposing teams shake hands as per cricketing tradition, where the Indian team skipped the customary post-match handshake.
\nWhile the Indian players congratulated each other at the dugout after the match, they refrained from acknowledging or shaking hands with the Pakistani team. Pakistan\u2019s players lined up expecting the customary handshake, only to see the Indian team retreat and close the dressing room doors.
\nIndia\u2019s victorious captain, Suryakumar, defended his team\u2019s decision not to shake hands with the Pakistan players saying that it was taken in alignment with their government and cricket board. \u201cWe are aligned with the government and Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Some things are above sportsmanship. Is it really sportsmanship if you don\u2019t even shake hands with the opposing team? That was our answer,\u201d he said.
\nThe move prompted a strong reaction from the cricketing fraternity as well as Mohsin Naqvi, who heads both the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and is also the serving head of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC).
\nNot only did Pakistan skipper Salman Ali Agha, in protest, refused to attend the post-match presentation ceremony, breaking from broadcast norms where captains usually share their thoughts, the PCB has filed a formal complaint with the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), calling for the removal of match referee Andy Pycroft from the ongoing Asia Cup 2025 \u2014 for reportedly instructing the omission of the customary handshake.
\nApart from taking up the matter with the ICC, the PCB has also come down hard on its own Director of International Cricket Usman Wahla and has suspended him over failure to promptly forward an official letter to the ICC concerning the Asia Cup handshake controversy.
\nThe Sunday\u2019s match, the first ever since the two countries were involved in an armed conflict triggered by India\u2019s cross-border attack, followed by Pakistan\u2019s retaliation and launch of \u201cOperation Bunyan-um-Marsoos\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Info Minister Attaullah Tarar censures India for trying to save itself from embarrassment after military defeat in May ISLAMABAD Federal Information Minister Attaullah Tarar on Tuesday assailed India for bringing politics into sports after Indian cricket team players refused to shake hands with their Pakistani counterparts in their recent Asia Cup 2025 match. \u201cA nation […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":491245,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-503191","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-news"},"yoast_head":"\n