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Pakistan and India meet again at Asia Cup after handshake row – SUCH TV
India and Pakistan clash again in the Asia Cup on Sunday, renewing one of cricket’s fiercest rivalries a week after their last match was overshadowed by a handshake row.
India won the September 14 group match by seven wickets in Dubai and afterwards refused to shake hands with their opponents, angering Pakistan.
It was the first meeting between the neighbours since a four-day armed conflict in May left more than 70 people dead.
The Pakistan Cricket Board lodged a protest with the International Cricket Council (ICC), saying that match referee Andy Pycroft had told skipper Salman Agha not to approach Indian counterpart Suryakumar Yadav for a handshake at the toss.
The PCB demanded that Pycroft be removed from their matches and threatened to withdraw from the eight-team T20I competition.
Their last group game was held up for an hour before the PCB said Pycroft had apologised, and the match, with the Zimbabwean in charge, eventually went ahead.
Pakistan beat the hosts, the United Arab Emirates, to qualify for the next stage, the Super Fours, and set up another meeting with India in Dubai.
Indian media reported that the team plans to stick to its no-handshake policy for Sunday’s clash.
India spinner Kuldeep Yadav sought to defuse the controversy.
“When you step onto the field, it’s just a batter in front of you. I have always approached it this way against Pakistan,” he said ahead of India’s last group game, against Oman on Friday.
Agha also stuck to sports.
“If we play good cricket like we have played in the last few months, I think we’ll be good against any side,” the Pakistan captain told reporters.
Simmering tensions
Because of fraught political ties, nuclear-armed neighbours India and Pakistan only meet at neutral venues during multi-team tournaments.
Tensions soared ahead of the Asia Cup after the two countries engaged in their worst conflict since 1999. The hostilities in May left more than 70 people dead in missile, drone and artillery exchanges, before a ceasefire.
The conflict was triggered by an April attack on civilians in Pahalgam in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir that New Delhi accused Pakistan of backing, a charge Islamabad denies.
India resisted calls to boycott the first Pakistan match.
A potential third India-Pakistan showdown looms if both sides qualify for the final on September 28 in Dubai.
India lifted the Asia Cup in its last, 50-over edition and are favourites to retain the crown.
India and Pakistan advanced to the next stage from Group A, while Sri Lanka and Bangladesh qualified from Group B.
Sri Lanka face Bangladesh on Saturday in the first Super Fours fixture.
Sri Lanka, unbeaten so far, look dangerous while Bangladesh carry the underdog tag under skipper Litton Das.
Along with regional bragging rights, the Asia Cup serves as build-up towards the T20 World Cup in February-March in India and Sri Lanka.
Blake Griffin, Candace Parker, Jamal Crawford, the 1996 U.S. Olympic women’s basketball team, Bruce Pearl and Kelvin Sampson were among the first-time nominees announced Friday to be considered for enshrinement into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame next year.
Also among the notable first-time nominees: Elena Delle Donne and Joe Johnson as players and Mike D’Antoni as a contributor.
Nearly 200 players and teams were on the list unveiled by the Hall on ESPN’s “NBA Today,” including some finalists who fell short of enshrinement in the 2025 class, including Jennifer Azzi, who was a member of that 1996 U.S. women’s team that won gold at the Atlanta Games. Azzi is a nominee again as an individual.
“The candidates for the class of 2026 have each left an indelible impact on the game of basketball,” said John L. Doleva, president and CEO of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. “Through defining performances, influential leadership and achievements that helped elevate the sport on the national and international stage, this year’s ballot recognizes those whose legacy continues to shape how the game is played, coached, and celebrated.”
Finalists are typically announced at NBA All-Star Weekend in February. The 2026 class will be unveiled April 4 at the NCAA Final Four, with enshrinement weekend Aug. 14 and 15 at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut, and at Symphony Hall in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Other finalists a year ago who are back on the ballot include Gonzaga coach Mark Few; NBA legends Marques Johnson and Buck Williams; and Jerry Welsh, who coached Potsdam in upstate New York to NCAA Division III titles in 1981 and 1986.
Molly Bolin, the first player signed by the Women’s Professional Basketball League, is back as well, as is former Serbian professional player and longtime coach Dusan Ivkovic, who is already a FIBA Hall of Famer.
Doc Rivers, the only NBA coach with more than 1,000 wins who isn’t yet in the Hall of Fame, is a nominee again, as are Amar’e Stoudemire and legendary broadcaster Marv Albert.
Some teams that will be considered include the 1936, 1972 and 1976 U.S. Olympic men’s teams; the 1982 Cheyney State team coached by C. Vivian Stringer that lost to Louisiana Tech in the inaugural NCAA Division I women’s national championship game; the Kentucky Wesleyan men’s teams that won three Division II national titles in a four-year span of the late 1960s; and the 1963 Loyola Chicago men’s team that won the NCAA title and broke racial barriers in the sport by using as many as four Black starters.
The wide receiver took a swipe with his right hand at the fan, who was standing in the front row of the stands and leaning over the railing, during the Steelers-Lions game Sunday.
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