Dubai: UAE skipper Muhammad Waseem has dismissed any suggestion that India-Pakistan tensions have affected camaraderie within the UAE cricket team, which features a mix of players from both countries. He sidestepped questions about their dramatic and delayed Asia Cup clash against Pakistan.
The UAE squad has an equal representation of Indian and Pakistani-origin players: Simranjeet Singh, Rahul Chopra, Harshit Kaushik, Dhruv Parashar, and Alishan Sharafu on the Indian side, and Multan-born Waseem, Haider Ali, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Rohid, and Asif Khan representing Pakistan.
“We are like a family here,” Waseem said, emphasizing that despite tensions between India and Pakistan—which escalated recently after the Pahalgam terror attack claiming 26 Indian lives—the team remains united.
Asked if the ongoing Indo-Pak tensions had affected relationships within the squad or sparked conversations in the dressing room, Waseem said no.
“No, we don’t talk about that. We play a lot of cricket together. There’s no Indian or Pakistani here—we play for the UAE. We live and play as a family,” he said.
The strained bilateral relations became evident at the tournament when India skipper Suryakumar Yadav refused to shake hands with Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha at the toss on Sunday. There were no pleasantries after the game either, as India chose to show solidarity with the Pahalgam attack victims.
Pakistan reacted angrily, threatening to pull out and blaming match referee Andy Pycroft, claiming he had prohibited the traditional exchanges. The team delayed their subsequent match against UAE after the ICC rejected their demand to remove Pycroft. Eventually, Pakistan agreed to play after receiving an apology, although the ICC maintained that Pycroft had acted appropriately and that Pakistan had not provided evidence for their complaint.
UAE went on to lose to Pakistan by 41 runs, despite a strong bowling effort that restricted the opposition to 146 for 9. Waseem, who could have sought a walkover due to Pakistan’s delayed arrival, made it clear that he never considered doing so.
“This is not our responsibility. We focused on our game—we came here to play, and that’s what we did,” he said.
He insisted that the team remained unaffected by the delayed start.
“It didn’t matter whether we started at 6:30 or 7:30 pm. That’s the organizer’s job. We came to play cricket, and we played,” he said.
Waseem was careful to avoid controversy, even responding wittily when asked if the delay disrupted their pre-match routine: “Watching our bowling performance, did you feel that?”
Waseem has experience in the Pakistan Super League, having played for Multan Sultans in 2021 and being picked by Islamabad United in 2024, though he missed the latter season due to international duties.
Pakistan pacer Haris Rauf also avoided getting drawn into the dispute. “I wasn’t feeling any pressure. These things are the Board’s responsibility. I had a match to play and focus on. Management handled the rest well,” he said.
India and Pakistan are set to meet again in a Super 4 clash on Sunday, with India confirming that the ‘no handshake’ stance will continue. The teams could also meet in the final on September 28.
