IND-A vs PAK-A: India A Skip Handshakes With Pakistan Shaheens Before Asia Cup Rising Stars Contest

IND-A vs PAK-A Match: Players of both India A and Pakistan Shaheens teams on Sunday avoided handshakes before the start of their match in the Asia Cup Rising Stars tournament here, continuing the trend started by the senior side during the Asia Cup in September.

Both team went their separate ways after the national anthems. Pakistan Shaheens won the toss and opted to field first. During the Asia Cup in September, India's T20 skipper Suryakumar Yadav didn't shake hands with Salman Ali Agha as a show of solidarity for victims of the Pahalgam terror attack.

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Jitesh Sharma, who was the second wicketkeeper in that tournament and is captain of India A in the ongoing event, followed in his senior's footsteps and did not shake hands with Pakistan Shaheens skipper Irfan Khan at the toss. With Indo-Pak cricketing ties at their lowest ebb, tensions escalated after Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Mohsin Naqvi refused to hand over the Asia Cup winner's trophy to Suryakumar in Dubai. Notably, the Indian men's team had declined to accept the trophy from a Pakistan representative.

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India headed into the match against their arch-rivals on the back of a sensational victory over the UAE in their first match of the tournament. Vaibhav Suryavanshi produced an outstanding effort with the bat and smashed multiple records. He played a fiery knock of 144 runs in just 42 balls on the back of 11 fours and 15 sixes.

Jitesh Sharma also produced a fiery knock of unbeaten 83 runs in just 32 balls, hitting eight fours and six sixes to help India post a mammoth total of 297/4 in their 20 overs. They restricted the UAE to 149/7 and kicked off their campaign in the best possible way.

IND-A vs PAK-A Playing XIs, Asia Cup Rising Stars 2025

India A: Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Priyansh Arya, Nehal Wadhera, Naman Dhir, Jitesh Sharma (c&wk), Ramandeep Singh, Ashutosh Sharma, Harsh Dubey, Yash Thakur, Gurjapneet Singh, Suyash Sharma

Pakistan A: Mohammad Naeem, Maaz Sadaqat, Yasir Khan, Mohammad Faiq, Irfan Khan (c), Saad Masood, Ghazi Ghori (wk), Shahid Aziz, Ubaid Shah, Ahmed Daniyal, Sufiyan Muqeem