- By Namrata Vijay
- Wed, 17 Sep 2025 08:23 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
PAK vs UAE Asia Cup 2025: The Indian team's easy win against arch-rival Pakistan last week was overshadowed by the no-handshake incident, and that has made the PCB furious. This incident turned out quite dramatic after speculations were rife that the Men in Green would be boycotting the match against the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday.
As per reports of Pakistani media, the upcoming match between these two teams, which will be held in Dubai on Wednesday, will not be held on Wednesday as the Salman Ali Agha-led side chose to boycott this match after the recent ' handshake controversy', which also included referee Andy Pycroft. But they revealed that they will be playing their last group match against the host.
The news of the Salman Ali Agha-led side boycotting the match led to them getting brutally trolled for not playing a do-or-die match, where fans said that they did this as they were not prepared for this match.
“As per reports, Pakistan is not ready to play in the UAE and is threatening to boycott the Asia Cup. Truth is, they aren’t even ready for the tournament itself. Excuses can’t hide unpreparedness forever," a fan had written on his official social media account. “Yeh kaisa masterstroke hai?" another fan said.
“I genuinely thought Pakistan could not do anything more stupid in this tournament than opting to bat first against India at Dubai. But no, they have decided to boycott the game against the UAE just because the ICC has denied their request to remove the match referee. Bizarre," said another fan.
“Pakistan would have to pay USD 16 million if they boycott the match. Bhai itne mein toh inhe Lahore bechna pad jayega," said another fan.
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The Pakistani commentators, too, slammed this decision of the team boycotting the match as it would prevent them from reaching the Super 4s and also ripped apart the team's woeful performance in multi-national events.
According to reports, the PCB had told their players to stay at the hotel and not go to the venue. But after a short delay, the Men in Green started departing for the hotel after PCB's chairman told them to participate in the match. As per top sources, they were playing this match for the UAE and didn't have a choice but to pull out.
The PCB asked for Andy Pycroft's removal as they had pinned the blame for the embarrassment they had faced since the Indian cricketers didn't shake hands in their match on Sunday, as they expressed their solidarity with the Pahalgam victims. India captain Suryakumar Yadav backed this decision and revealed that some things are not just about sportsmanship.
The Super 4 stage is all set to begin on Saturday. During the second match, which will be held in Dubai, the top two teams of Group A will lock horns with each other.