The “no-handshake” incident between the Indian and Pakistani cricket teams has caused a lot of trouble for the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), and it’s only getting worse. The PCB put up a muted video on social media not too long ago that was supposed to show a serious talk between the team management and match referee Andy Pycroft. But the quiet video rapidly became a joke on the internet, with fans from both sides of the border making fun of the board for what they saw as a lack of professionalism.
The whole thing started on September 14 during the Group A match of the 2025 Asia Cup. It was the first time the two sides had faced each other since the terrible Pahalgam incident, which made tensions between countries worse and led to calls in India to boycott the match. The Indian team chose to play in the global event, but they made a big deal out of it by refusing to shake hands with the Pakistani team.
🚨 Video clip of match referee Andy Pycroft apologising to Pakistan’s manager and captain. pic.twitter.com/VnBKM6ePBa
— Ihtisham Ul Haq (@iihtishamm) September 17, 2025
Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav famously didn’t shake hands with his Pakistani counterpart, Salman Ali Agha, during the toss. The whole team did the same thing after they won by a wide margin. Clips of Surya shutting the door to the changing room to avoid interaction with the Pakistani squad that was waiting also went viral. Salman Ali Agha didn’t go to the ceremony after the match, which was a clear sign.
But the real drama started after the game. The Pakistani team management made an official complaint to the tournament administrators, saying that the Indian team’s refusal to shake hands was not in the “spirit of the game.” Things got worse when the squad allegedly said they would not play in the rest of the tournament if Andy Pycroft, the match referee, was not removed from their matches. Because the Men in Green wouldn’t take the field, the Pakistan vs. UAE match was delayed by an hour.
In the middle of all this, the PCB posted the now-famous silent video. In the video, Andy Pycroft is having a serious talk with Salman Ali Agha, head coach Mike Hesson, and a PCB official. People thought that the timing of the film, which had no sound or context, was the PCB’s way of saying that Pycroft was sorry for what happened.
The video was not taken seriously; instead, it was widely mocked. Fans from both India and Pakistan quickly started sharing the video again with sarcastic comments and memes, making fun of how foolish the PCB was to think they could send such a message with a quiet film. The event has simply made the rivalry worse and added another layer of mockery to an already heated situation.