The Asia Cup has always carried weight beyond cricket, especially when it brings together India and Pakistan. With the two nations sharing a tense political history and having limited bilateral sporting engagement in recent years, every moment of interaction between their players is heavily scrutinised. This time, in the lead-up to the Asia Cup, much of the spotlight fell on a fleeting handshake between Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav and Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha during the captains’ press conference.
The room was filled with anticipation as journalists from across the subcontinent poured in. According to journalist Ruturaj Borkakoty, who was present at the venue, “A big number of journalists arrived, mostly from India. Very few from Pakistan, many more from Bangladesh than from Pakistan, very few from Sri Lanka as well,” He told Sports Today. The scene was a mix of regional media excitement and diplomatic undercurrents.
At the event, the captains of all participating nations sat through a structured media interaction. Tensions between India and Pakistan, always simmering beneath the surface, were felt in the background. Yet, the conference was devoid of hostility.
“I saw a very cordial press conference, actually,” Borkakoty observed. “I really don’t think that we should make too much out of it because there was a very brief moment after that press conference was over, as the captains were leaving the stage, and Surya was trying to get to the backside of the conference room, and when Salman Agha shook his hands.”
The handshake, captured in short clips and shared widely on social media, triggered a frenzy of reactions. Speculations ran wild—was it a sign of soft diplomacy, or was something amiss between the two captains? But Borkakoty, having witnessed it firsthand, was quick to dispel the noise.
“It was a very cordial, very brief, fleeting moment. They were not like exchanging. I don’t think they really had a nice chat normally that captains do or the players do when they meet at events like this. I didn’t see that.”
With political tensions back home making every interaction between Indian and Pakistani figures a matter of public debate, even a routine handshake became headline material. Yet, as Borkakoty pointed out, the moment was nothing beyond basic sportsmanship.
“I saw videos of it as well, and I have heard about the reactions from people on social media, and I’m quite surprised, actually, at what else you were expecting to do. I mean you are meeting a player that you are going to play and captain of the opposition team in a few days’ time.”
The captains, tasked with representing their countries at an international event, held themselves to a professional standard, as expected. “No matter what the situation is of the two countries, you are actually playing an international event. And if you’re playing an international event and if you are attending a press conference, an official press conference, and you have to be at your best, even while representing India, and same for the Pakistan captain, and same for every captain representing their countries.”