India’s captain, Suryakumar Yadav, once again chose not to shake hands with Pakistan’s Salman Ali Agha at the toss for their Asia Cup match on Sunday, as animosity between the bitter rivals rumbled on at the eight-team tournament.
The Asia Cup has been dominated by headlines about India and Pakistan’s first meetings on the pitch since the military conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbours in May this year. India have won both matches, winning the second by six wickets on Sunday.
India won the politically charged Group A match by seven wickets last week, and their players refused to shake hands with Pakistan after the game. Suryakumar dedicated India’s victory to their armed forces, while several of his teammates expressed similar thoughts on social media.
A furious Pakistan considered withdrawing from the tournament to protest against the match referee, Andy Pycroft, who they say condoned unsportsmanlike behaviour by India. They delayed their match against United Arab Emirates by an hour on Wednesday and went ahead with the game only after an apology from Pycroft and the assurance of an inquiry by the International Cricket Council.
Once play was under way, a 105-run opening stand between Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill helped the defending champions to victory. Put in to bat, Pakistan set India a target of 172, which they reached with seven balls remaining.
A 72-run partnership between Sahibzada Farhan and Saim Ayub for the second wicket laid the foundation for Pakistan’s innings after Fakhar Zaman (15) fell early. Farhan, who was dropped in the first over by Sharma, completed his half-century in 34 balls, steering Pakistan to 91 for one after 10 overs.
Pakistan could not hit a single boundary in the next six overs as Ayub (21), Hussain Talat (10) and Farhan (58 off 45) got out in quick succession. Unbeaten knocks from Salman (17 off 13), and Faheem Ashraf (20 off eight) added 42 runs in the last three overs to help Pakistan reach a competitive 171 for five.
Sharma announced his intentions by hitting Shaheen Shah Afridi for a six off the first ball, and hit four boundaries and four sixes to complete his half-century in 24 balls. India seemed to be racing to a quick victory until Gill (47 off 28) was bowled by Faheem Ashraf in the 10th over.
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Yadav fell to Haris Rauf (two for 26) for a duck in the very next over, and Sharma (74 off 39) was dismissed by Abrar Ahmed soon after, temporarily throttling India’s chase.
But India, who beat Pakistan by seven wickets in the group stage, still got over the line, with Tilak Varma (30 off 19) hitting Afridi for a six and a four in the final two balls of the innings.
Pakistan will face Sri Lanka on Tuesday, with both sides looking for their first win in the Super Four, a day before India play Bangladesh, who beat Sri Lanka on Saturday.
