'Don't make it political, let cricket be a game.'
Pace great Shoaib Akhtar said he was not pleased with Team India's gesture of not shaking hands with the Pakistan's players after their Asia Cup match, in Dubai, on Sunday.
Both captains -- Suryakumar Yadav and Salman Agha -- skipped the customary handshake nor made eye contact at the toss.
The uneasy atmosphere continued after the match, with India's players snubbing Pakistan's offer of a handshake after winning the match. Pakistan lodged a protest with the Asian Cricket Council over the Indian players' refusal to shake hands with them
Suryakumar justified the decision to not shake hands with the Pakistan team, saying it was their way of showing solidarity with the families of the Pahalgam terrorist attack victims.
'We took a team call. We had come only to play. We had given them a reply. Some things are beyond sportsmanship. We dedicate this victory to our armed forces who took part in Operation Sindoor and stand with families of the victims of the Pahalgam terror attack,' the Indian captain said after the game.
Shoaib urged the Indian team not to bring politics into the field of cricket.
'I am speechless and it is disheartening. I don't know what to say. Hats off to India, well done. Don't make things political. Cricket match ho raha hain, isko political mat karo yaar. Hum acchi baatein aapke liye kar rahein hain. (It is just cricket, don't make it a political issue. We have said nice things about you),' the Rawalpindi Express was quoted as saying in a video posted on X.
'We can say a lot too. Handshake kar lo, I said before the match too handshake kar lo (Shake hands, as I said before the game shake hands). Ye game of cricket hain (This is just a game of cricket), show some grace.'
'It is okay, hoti rehte hain, ladai-jhagde hoti rehte hain, gharon man ho jaate hain. (Fights happen everywhere, even in our families). It doesn't mean we take it to the next level and not shake hands. I wouldn't have done all this, I will go and shake hands with my enemies.'
'Don't make it political, let cricket be a game.'
On Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha's decision to boycott the presentation ceremony to protest India's handshake snub, Shoaib said: 'I didn't like the post match ceremony to be honest. Theek kiya Salman Agha ne, woh nahi gaya press conference mein (Salman Agha did the right thing, he did not go to the post match ceremony) good."