India has won the competition twice this year against Salman Agha‘s team. They were defeated by six wickets in the Super 4s after losing by seven wickets in the group stage. When the two bitter rivals meet in the 2025 Asia Cup final at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday, September 28, Pakistan will try to snap India’s winning streak.
The Men in Blue’s refusal to shake hands with their Pakistani counterparts has drawn a lot of attention, aside from India’s dominance over Pakistan in the two matches. During the toss prior to the group-stage match, Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav did not shake hands with his opposing number. They returned to the dressing room after India’s victory, skipping the traditional handshakes on the pitch. The Super-4 match followed the same pattern.
In response to a question on India’s stance against shaking hands with Pakistani athletes, Salman Agha stated that even in the face of deteriorating relations between the two nations, this custom was upheld. The all-round player was making reference to the Pahalgam attack and the ensuing Operation Sindoor, which have severely strained ties between the two adjacent countries.
In 2007, I began playing cricket at the U16 level. No team I’ve ever seen didn’t shake hands. During the pre-match press conference in Dubai, Agha stated, “We shook hands even when Indo-Pak relations were worse.”
Speaking about his team’s losses to India earlier in the competition, Agha claimed that they were on the losing side because they committed more mistakes than the Men in Blue.
“There is pressure associated with India vs. Pakistan matches. We lost the last two games because we committed more mistakes,” the captain of Pakistan stated.
India has advanced to the final of the event with six victories. Pakistan, meanwhile, has two losses and four victories. Agha thinks that in the crucial final, both sides would have to cope with pressure.
Both teams are under the same amount of pressure in the final. What the Indian media says is irrelevant to us. It’s all about performing the fundamentals correctly for us,” he stated.
Salman Agha uses the bat to address his poor form.
In the 2025 Asia Cup, the 31-year-old has had trouble producing with the bat. In just six innings, he has amassed 64 runs at an average of 12.8 and a strike rate of 78.05. Agha acknowledged that his ability to contribute with the bat hasn’t been as great as he had envisioned.
“Yes, I haven’t done well, and I haven’t had a high enough strike rate. “Playing according to the situation’s demands is more important than hitting at a 150-strike rate,” he stated.
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