Asia Cup 2025: Hesson Reacts to India’s Handshake Snub, Citing Disappointment

The aftermath of the India-Pakistan match at the Asia Cup 2025 saw Pakistan head coach Mike Hesson expressing his dismay over India’s refusal to engage in the customary post-match handshake. The match, which took place on September 14th, resulted in India achieving a comprehensive seven-wicket victory, easily surpassing a target of 128 runs. After the match concluded, Suryakumar Yadav and Shivam Dube, representing India, went directly to the dressing room, bypassing the traditional handshake with the Pakistani players. Despite the wait by Pakistan’s captain Salman Agha and coach Mike Hesson near the Indian team area, no Indian players came out to offer a handshake. Hesson later addressed the situation in the post-match press conference, explaining that his team was prepared to shake hands. He indicated that they were disappointed by India’s actions. “Obviously, we were ready to shake hands at the end of the game. We were disappointed that our opposition didn’t do that. We went over there to shake hands, and they’d already gone into the changing room,” Hesson reported. He concluded by adding, “That was a disappointing way for the match to finish. We were disappointed in the way we played, but certainly were willing to go and shake hands.”