While the expectation on Sunday is building the final of Asia Cup 2025 between Pakistan and India, Congress Parliament Member Shashi Tharoor criticized Indian players because he refused to shake hands with the Pakistani team during the current tournament.
In comments for Indian News Outlet AniTharoor emphasized that sport must be kept separate from political or military tensions, and notes that as soon as teams are committed to play, they must respect the spirit of the game.
“I personally feel that as soon as the decision had been made to play, if we feel so strong about Pakistan, we should not have played them at all. But if we are going to play, we would have to play in the spirit of the game and shake our hand. We did this even in 1999 during the Kargil war, when soldiers were on the frontlines, and yet shaking the India, said the India, said,” said the India pase. “
Tharoor also emphasized that Cricket has its own mind, apart from tensions between nations and their armies.
The issue arose during the controversial competition between the arch rivals, which attracted considerable attention both and outside the field.
The tensions were raised at the Worp during the group stage when both teams reported the traditional handshake, reportedly on the advice of the competition referee.
India won the group stage match with seven wickets, but skipper Yadav exceeded all the boundaries of sportiness by using his post-match presentation speech to drag politics to cricket.
In his complaint, the printed circuit board accused the Indian captain of politicizing cricket and violating the Code of Conduct of the ICC for neutrality.
The ICC, however, has formally reprimanded the Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav about his political statements after their Asia Cup match against Pakistan on September 14, according to sources.
