India captain Suryakumar Yadav defended his team’s decision not to shake hands with Pakistan’s players after their seven-wicket victory in the Asia Cup.
Yadav dedicated the win to India’s armed forces before explaining that the decision to snub the Pakistan players at the end of the match was taken alongside the Indian government and cricket board.
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Pakistan, in protest, refused to attend the post-match ceremony and accused India of “breaking the spirit of sportsmanship” as tensions flared in a match which was the first between the bitter rivals since May’s military action
Tensions between both countries have flared in the last six months with cross-border clashes in Pahalgam resulting in the deaths of 26 people in May.
There were demands in India for their cricket team to boycott the match, which went ahead with the Indian board sticking to its stance of playing Pakistan in multi-team events.
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“We stand by the victims and their families of the Pahalgam terror attack and we express our solidarity,” Suryakumar said, calling called the win “a perfect return gift to India”.
“Also, we want to dedicate today’s win to all our armed forces, who showed a lot of bravery.”
“We were ready to shake hands at the end of the game,” said Pakistan head coach Mike Hesson. “We are disappointed that the opposition did not do that.
“We went over there and they were already gone to the changing room, so that was obviously a disappointing way to finish the match.”
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“The team manager, Naveed Cheema, lodged a protest with match referee Andy Pycroft after the match,” said Pakistan’s team management in a statement. “The behaviour of Indian players was against the spirit of sportsmanship.”
India’s three-pronged spin attack laid the foundation of their second successive victory in the tournament when they restricted Pakistan for a below-par 127 for nine.
Opener Abhishek Sharma and Tilak Varma contributed 31 each before Suryakumar, who made 47 not out, sealed India’s victory with a six with 4.1 overs still left in their innings.
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The Group A fixture was the first match between the sides since the four-day military conflict in May this year.
Earlier, Pakistan captain Salman Agha opted to bat but they crawled to 49 for four at the halfway stage of their stuttering innings.
Hardik Pandya began with a wide ball in a dramatic first couple of overs when Pakistan lost two wickets and used the review system to prevent the loss of a third batsman.
Pandya redeemed himself immediately by dismissing opener Saim Ayub for a duck with the first legitimate delivery of the ball with Jasprit Bumrah taking the catch.
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When Bumrah came to bowl the next over, Pandya returned the compliment and took a catch to dismiss Mohammad Haris.
Sahibzada Farhan (40) hit a couple of sixes off Bumrah but left-arm spinner Axar Patel dismissed Fakhar Zaman and Salman in successive overs to put Pakistan under the pump.
Kuldeep Yadav further twisted the knife, dismissing Hasan Nawaz and Mohammed Nawaz in successive deliveries and ending Farhan’s gutsy knock.
Shaheen Afridi hit four sixes in his unbeaten 33 to lend some respectability to Pakistan’s total.
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India began their chase in the right earnest but Shubman Gill (10) hit Ayub for back-to-back fours before falling to the spinner in the second over.
Abhishek, the world’s top-ranked T20 batter, got off to a blazing start but fell to Ayub just when he was looking dangerous.
Ayub claimed a third wicket when he dismissed Varma but Suryakumar stayed put to take India closer to the Super Fours stage of the tournament.
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