'There is no excuse...': Sunil Gavaskar reignites handshake row, slams PCB for Asia Cup boycott drama

Legendary India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar showed no mercy and criticised the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) over the 'handshake controversy' that occurred during their first match against India in Asia Cup 2025. India skipper Suryakumar Yadav had not shook hands with Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha and both the teams didn't do the customary handshake either following the end of the match.

However, the PCB wewren't happy about this and lodged a formal complaint against match referee Andy Pycroft, alleging that he had told Agha to not shake hands with Suryakumar. They even demanded the ICC to dismiss Pycroft from Asia Cup. Gavaskar launched a scathing attack over the cricketing board, stating that there is no rule which says that handshakes are compulsary during or after the match.

Gavaskar on handshake controversy

“The PCB complaining about it was hard to understand, as there is nothing in the rule books that says handshakes are mandatory. There are many previous instances in different sports where opponents who have clashed have not shaken hands after their match has ended. The ICC quite rightly ignored the protest, if indeed there was one made as per media reports,” Gavaskar wrote in his column for Sportstar.

“What needs to be looked at is the avoiding of the mandatory media meet on the eve of the match by the Pakistani contingent. They did not have to send the captain, players or the coach. Anyone among the large support staff could have met the media. That did not happen, and it will be interesting to see if any action is taken for avoiding what is mandatory,” he added.

After the ICC refused to accept PCB's demand of dismissing Pycroft, they threatened to pull out of the tournament by boycotting their match against UAE. The match was delayed by an hour, but eventually went ahead and Pakistan defeated the hosts by 41 runs.

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Gavaskar remarked that there is no reason why the PCB were allowed to delay the game and added that they had two full days to discuss about their issues with Pycroft, but kept everybody in suspense and turned up to the stadium very late.

"The other thing that left a sour taste in the mouth is holding up the game and starting it one hour late. If the PCB had any issues to discuss with and about the match referee Andy Pycroft, then it had two full days after their loss to India and before the game against the UAE in which to do so. By keeping everybody in suspense and not even turning up at the ground until almost the toss time, they held the game to ransom," Gavaskar wrote.

"There is simply no excuse for delaying the start of the game for an hour while haggling to get an apology from the match referee for something that was also not in any of the rule books. Then, despite the ICC, which appoints the umpires and match referees, saying there was no apology given, the PCB insisted that they had secured one and so agreed to play. They pounced on the words ‘regrettable miscommunication’ to say that this was the apology," he further added.

Pakistan to clash against Sri Lanka

Meanwhile, after losing their match against India by six wickets, Pakistan will be hoping to bounce back in their next match of the tournament which will be against Sri Lanka and will be contested on September 23. If they do end up recording a second consecutive defeat in the Super 4 stage, then it will be a mountain task for them to qualify for the final.