Pakistan v UAE Asia Cup match in Dubai to go ahead despite chaos after India handshake row

Start time delayed by an hour after Pakistan players were told by their board not to leave team hotel

Pakistan captain Salman Agha during the Asia Cup. Chris Whiteoak / The National

The UAE's decisive Asia Cup fixture with Pakistan in Dubai has been delayed by an hour, but it will go ahead.

Reports from Pakistan had suggested the game had been forfeited due to the fall out from the handshake row between them and India on Sunday night.

The Pakistani Cricket Board have been pushing for the removal of the match referee, Andy Pycroft, for his role in the clash on Sunday, which saw India opt out of shaking hands with their opposition.

While UAE's players arrived at Dubai International Stadium ahead of the scheduled 6.30pm UAE time start, Pakistan's were still at the team hotel.

They had been ordered not to travel to the ground until the board had resolved issues over the ongoing dispute.

At 5.30pm, Mohsin Naqvi, the PCB chairman, announced on social media that they have asked the team to travel.

It was subsequently announced the toss would happen at 7pm, with the game starting at 7.30pm. UAE won the toss and decided to bowl first.

The controversy started when India refused to shake hands with Pakistan players at the end of their match.

India captain Suryakumar added to the controversy by stating that they were showing solidarity with the victims of the Pahalgam attack that took place earlier in the year and resulted on a four-day war between the neigbours.

Pakistan coach Mike Hesson had expressed his disappointment over the incident.

“We were ready to shake hands,” Hesson had said. “Our opposition didn’t do that. We went over there to shake hands and they had already gone into the changing room.

“It was a disappointing way for the match to finish. We were disappointed with the way we played, but we were certainly willing to go over and shake hands.”