“There's no need to play at all” - Mohammad Azharuddin opens up on India vs Pakistan handshake controversy

Former Indian captain Mohammad Azharuddin has stated that there was nothing wrong with Indian players shaking hands with the Pakistani players after agreeing to play the fixture against them in the Asia Cup 2025 campaign.

Speaking exclusively to NDTV Sports, Azharuddin also asserted that he doesn’t have much of a problem if the Indian players decide to shake hands with the opposition players. Notably, the Suryakumar Yadav-led side decided not to shake hands with Pakistan players after their seven-wicket win over their arch-rivals on Sunday, September 14, in Dubai.

Moreover, this handshake row didn’t go down well with Salman Ali Agha as he skipped the post-match presentation ceremony, which was highlighted by Pakistan head coach Mike Hesson in the post-match press conference. Later, PCB also tried to boycott their game against the UAE, but had to eventually participate after ICC intervened.

"I feel that there was nothing wrong with shaking hands. When you are playing the match, you might as well play with everything, like shaking hands or whatever. I don't know what the problem was. I really cannot understand. But I don't feel there was anything wrong," Azharuddin told NDTV in an exclusive interview.

"When you're playing in protest, you might as well not play. There's no point playing under protest. Once you've agreed to play-be it ICC events or the Asia Cup-then you must play with full intensity. Otherwise, there's no need to play at all,” he added.

After India bagged three consecutive wins against the UAE, Pakistan, and Oman, they dominated the Group A standings with the pole position. Meanwhile, Pakistan settled for the second rank, with two wins and a defeat against India.

Notably, India and Pakistan made it to the Super Four round in Group A, while Oman and the UAE got eliminated from the campaign. India will face Pakistan in the Super Four stage on Sunday, September 21, in Dubai.

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