Former India cricketer Atul Wassan slammed the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for complaining against India for refusing the customary handshakes at the toss as well as after the match. He believes that Pakistan are shameless for trying to force India to shake hands.
The clash between India and Pakistan are under a lot of criticism as this was the first clash between neighbouring nation after the Pahalgam terror attack. Wassan, who was part of India's 1990-91 Asia Cup-winning squad, said that if the Men in Blue are not willing to meet you, then why insist?
“They have become so shameless that they want to force us into shaking hands. What kind of mentality do they have? Everyone came to know that you had been insulted. If we are not willing to meet you, then why are you insisting? They insulted themselves more after filing the complaint,” Wassan said in a video shared by ANI.
“The complaint shows how immature and juvenile they are… There is no code of conduct (of shaking hands). We are not poking you, nether are we smiling at you because we are just tolerating you. Our message was clear that we played for the eco-system but do not to expect anything more from us because we don’t like you at all…” he added.
The handshake controversy began at the toss when Indian skipper Suryakumar refused to shake hands with his Pakistani counterpart Salman Agha. The continued after the clash as well, when Suryakumar Yadav finished off the proceedings with a six and left the ground alongside Shivam Dube without shaking hands with the Pakistan team.
Coming back to the match, after restricting Pakistan on 127 runs, Abhishek Sharma started off the proceedings with a boundary, and India chased down the total in the second last ball of the 16th over to register a seven-wicket win against the overhyped rivals. After registering two consecutive wins, India have sealed their Asia Cup 2025 Super Four berth, which will take place on September 21.