The build-up to the blockbuster India vs Pakistan Asia Cup 2025 clash has been dominated not by cricketing strategies, but by the handshake controversy that erupted after the last meeting between the two teams. Reports suggested that Indian players avoided shaking hands with their Pakistani counterparts, a move flagged to the ICC by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). On NDTV’s special Asia Cup show, former India captain Mohammad Azharuddin and ex-cricketer Nikhil Chopra shared strong reactions to the drama, setting the stage for yet another fiery India-Pakistan encounter.
Azharuddin: ‘Nothing wrong with shaking hands’
Azharuddin dismissed the row, saying too much was being made of a simple gesture.
“I feel that there was nothing wrong with shaking hands. When you are playing the match, you might as well play with everything, like shake hands or whatever. I don’t know what the problem was. I really cannot understand. But I don’t feel there was anything wrong,” he said.
He also warned against the idea of playing matches under protest.
“When you’re playing in protest, you might as well not play. There’s no point playing under protest. Once you’ve agreed to play-be it ICC events or the Asia Cup-then you must play with full intensity. Otherwise, there’s no need to play at all.”
Chopra: ‘Maybe there was a verbal spat’
Chopra, however, offered a different perspective, hinting at on-field tensions as the trigger.
“I have a feeling that maybe some of the players in that game were spoken of ill with some of the Indian players. And as a unit, maybe Gautam Gambhir and Suryakumar Yadav said, fair enough, we don’t want to go out there and shake hands. Possibly, there must have been some sort of verbal spat during the course of the game.”
He added that such controversies can affect players’ focus and questioned the wisdom of pushing protests at ICC tournaments.
“It’s not the best of mind spaces as an athlete. If you threaten to boycott a multi-nation ICC tournament, there are repercussions, penalties in place. Not the best of arm-twisting techniques, if I may say so.”
‘Picture abhi baaki hai’
Chopra summed up the mood ahead of the clash in Bollywood style:
“We all seem to think that ‘picture abhi baaki hai.’ Tell me, in the last so many years, when has there been no drama when the two sides are clashing? Expect the unexpected.”
Azharuddin, meanwhile, stressed that every contest has its own dynamics.
“Does this situation compare to any of the matches I’ve been part of? No, not really. It depends on the situation. It depends on what the instructions are.”
High drama, higher stakes
The handshake row is just the latest chapter in the long and often turbulent history of India-Pakistan cricket. With no bilateral series between the two nations, ICC and Asia Cup clashes carry extra weight, often spilling beyond cricket into politics and emotion.
As the Asia Cup clash draws near, one thing is certain: when India and Pakistan meet, expect drama, expect intensity-and expect the unexpected.