Asia Cup handshake row: Jammu and Kashmir CM Omar Abdullah bats for 'spirit of the game'

Jammu and Kashmir CM Omar Abdullah said Suryakumar Yadav-led India should have shaken hands with Salman Ali Agha's Pakistan side during the Asia Cup held in Dubai earlier this year.

"If you're playing, you might as well shake hands," he told India Today.

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"And was it a hockey match where we tapped each other's shoulders or did something? There was something — was it kabaddi or hockey? There was something where we didn’t quite shake hands, but we tapped shoulders or did something.

"If you're playing, then you should play the game in the spirit it was intended."

Abdullah, who is a keen cricket lover, also batted for India-Pakistan cricket matches.

"And why not? I mean, what's wrong with a multilateral tournament?"

India and Pakistan met each other thrice in the Asia Cup and did not shake hands on any of those occasions — something the women’s team also followed when they played the arch-rivals in their World Cup game at a neutral Sri Lankan venue.

India's refusal to engage in post-match handshakes and accept the Asia Cup winner's trophy from Asian Cricket Council chairman Mohsin Naqvi sparked a diplomatic row, prompting Pakistan to lodge an official protest with the ACC and the International Cricket Council (ICC).


Naqvi, who is also the PCB chief and the country’s interior minister, refused to hand over the trophy to the victorious Indian team and simply walked away with the silverware.

A furious BCCI justified the team’s refusal, saying that India cannot accept the trophy from a person who is "waging a war against the country."

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