Two presenters, India’s Ravi Shastri and Pakistan’s Waqar Younis, conducted impromptu interviews at the toss in Dubai, escalating the animosity between the two teams before the Asia Cup final.
After the acrimonious build-up to the title match, Pakistan refused to speak to Indian presenter Shastri, therefore this was the first time in the history of international cricket that two former players conducted the toss interview.
It is understood that Shastri, one of the announcers who was the presenter at the toss during the tournament’s first two Indo-Pak matches, was given the task of talking to Suryakumar Yadav and Salman Ali Agha following the toss for the final.
The PCB had requested the ACC to appoint a neutral presenter, but when the ACC approached the BCCI with the proposal, the Indian board made it clear that Ravi Shastri would not be replaced.
As a compromise, it was agreed that Surya would speak with former India head coach Shastri, and Pakistan captain Salman would talk to Waqar.
In another break from tradition, Salman participated in the trophy shoot alone himself rather than with his Indian counterpart.
The ACC had never told them about the toss photo shoot, according to BCCI insiders. It should be noted that neither Rohit Sharma nor Aiden Marrkram, the captains of India and South Africa, participated in any picture shoots during the 2024 T20 World Cup final in Barbados.
Meanwhile, India skipper Suryakumar Yadav won the toss and opted to bowl against Pakistan.
India all-rounder Hardik Pandya missed the final with a niggle.
