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.

Patrick Beverley hasn’t played in an NBA game since May 2024, but that isn’t stopping him from stirring the pot.

The 12-year NBA guard responded to Atlanta Hawks star Trae Young on Wednesday after Young replied to a post from Beverley last week. In that initial post, Beverley weighed in on a question on X about why players go all-out in open runs during the summer but often show less intensity in the All-Star game.

Beverley wrote: “Because All-Stars take the game for granted. Not 1 All-Star on the court. good bump,” prompting a response from Young — a four-time All-Star — telling Beverley to “relax” and let players speak for themselves.

Four days later, Beverley addressed Young’s response on his podcast, saying, “I don’t think he’s won enough to even speak to me like that or tweet me like that.”

“He’s been to the playoffs three times. I’ve been to the playoffs nine [times]. He’s been in the NBA seven years. My first seven years I didn’t miss the playoffs at all in the Western Conference,” he said. “His rebuttal’s probably going to be, ‘Yeah you weren’t the main player on the team.’ Absolutely right. But this is why it’s a team.”

Beverley added that he had spoken to players who’d played with Young in Atlanta — and they told him they didn’t want to play there.

“They don’t think he’s a good leader. They don’t think he’s a good teammate. … Trae, you could score all the points you want,” he said. “You could make all the money you want. You could have all the leading assists you want. You could do all that. If you don’t win, that s— won’t matter. If you don’t win, when you retire, they’re going to forget your name. Fast, too.”

Pat Bev kept it 💯 with Trae Young pic.twitter.com/kkbrTx0njY

— Pat Bev Pod (@PatBevPod) September 17, 2025

Young had his own response later Wednesday in a nearly 12-minute video on X.

The Hawks guard said Beverley “doesn’t know what it’s like” to be in his shoes, and he responded to Beverley’s claims that former Hawks teammates said it was the “Trae’s Hawks,” not the Atlanta Hawks.

“State your source. Which teammate of mine told [you] that it’s the Trae Hawks, it ain’t the Atlanta Hawks?” Young said. “Because I would tell you myself, I have a lot of teammates I keep in touch with. A lot. A lot that I know you know. So I want you to state your source.”

Young noted several of the All-Star players Beverley teamed up with during his career, before referencing Beverley’s emotional celebration after defeating his former team, the LA Clippers, in a play-in game with the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2022.

“We not even gonna talk about how we celebrate play-in wins,” he said. “I win play-in games on the road, and I’m ready to get to the playoffs. You win play-in games at home, and you standing on the scorer’s table acting like it’s a championship. We celebrate wins different, too.”

You know the bar.. @fromthepointTY pic.twitter.com/I9ikBg812H

— Trae Young (@TheTraeYoung) September 18, 2025

Young added that facing Beverley never intimidated him — and still doesn’t.

Young closed by saying he has “nothing but love” for Beverley and that Beverley could reach him through former teammates if he wanted to connect.

“Or if you want to just keep talking about it, you can keep talking about it,” he said.

The episode concluded with the early seconds of Drake’s 2013 track “Tuscan Leather.” In the song, Drake raps: “Bench players talkin’ like starters, I hate it,” a line Young seemingly referenced during the podcast.

“I know a lot of people wanted me probably just to listen to that Drake song and post that bar. We all know how that goes,” he said.

The Hawks added fuel to the fire Thursday by posting a compilation video of Young scoring against Beverley in prior matchups.

pic.twitter.com/rnz4crzH1y

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) September 18, 2025

Thursday night, Beverley posted a video on YouTube responding to Young, saying the guard puts up “empty stats,” suggesting his numbers don’t always translate to wins and pointing to defensive shortcomings.

“Humble yourself. Embrace the constructive criticism,” Beverley said. “Get better at that and move the f— on. We don’t have to keep going back like this a motherf—ing YouTube debate. Like it ain’t that deep.”

Beverley then doubled down on his take that players don’t want to play in Atlanta, highlighting the turnover in coaches and front office staff. Young has played for three general managers and three full-time head coaches since being drafted in 2018.

“Everyone that comes sees Trae Young, they get thrown out the building by their collar, you hear me?” Beverley said. “Players come. They see you, they get traded. Coaches come. They coach you, they get traded. GMs come. They govern the team and then they get fired. Everyone that sees Trae Young gets fired. That’s the truth. … People are scared to play in Atlanta.”

Beverley questioned Young’s leadership and claimed he never sees Young working out at a team facility, unlike Beverley’s other former star teammates, who Beverley saw work out at their respective team facilities.

“If I’m working out in Houston, James Harden is in Houston working out,” Beverley said. “Not James Harden is working out at another place. Every time we see you, you’re working out at another place. We never see you in the Hawks arena working out.”

Despite the criticism, Beverley hopes the exchanges have been productive.

“Regardless how it goes, it’s going to be good that comes out of this,” Beverley said. “Regardless. I hope this is motivating. I hope that you get to the end of the year and you fighting for a motherf—ing playoff. I hope, I hope that this is so f—ing motivating that this take you to the Eastern Conference [finals].”

In seven regular-season matchups, Beverley holds the edge with a 4-3 record.

Young averaged 25.3 points, 9.8 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 1 steal when the two faced off, while Beverley put up 8.3 points, 4.1 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.1 steals per game.

Australia skipper Pat Cummins said on Friday that he is hopeful of playing in all five Ashes Tests against England, but acknowledged that much will depend on how his back injury responds, according to local media reports.

The pace spearhead has already been ruled out of the October white-ball series against New Zealand and India due to “lumbar bone stress.”

Cummins, 32, has not bowled since the Test tour of the West Indies in June-July, and no definite return date has been set.

While he remains optimistic about featuring in the Ashes, Cummins emphasized a cautious approach. “There are no hard and fast plans yet,” he told reporters.

“I’m still doing some gym work and keeping things moving, but with this type of injury, it’s about rest first, then gradually building back towards the Ashes,” he said.

The Australian captain added that although his goal is to play in all five Tests, the final decision will be made closer to the series.

“It’s honestly too far out to say, but the aim is to try and be ready for all of it,” Cummins noted.

Cummins has faced recurring back problems over the years, including a significant flare-up in 2018 that sidelined him for an entire off-season.

Australia coach Andrew McDonald said this week he was confident Cummings would play a key part in the Ashes.

But he acknowledged to SEN radio that the uncertainty around Cummins “is not ideal”, but it was an “overreaction” to say the skipper would not play.

“It’s not ideal. I’m not going to sit here and say that it’s ideal,” McDonald told the radio station.

The first Ashes Test against England in Perth starts on November 21.

Australia retained the Ashes in England in 2023 after the series ended in a 2-2 draw.

They enjoyed a 4-0 sweep of England at home in 2021-22. Cummins was the leading wicket-taker with 21 scalps at an average of 18.