India Vs Pakistan, Asia Cup Final: Suryakumar's Obstructing Field Appeal Against Salman Raises Eyebrows

After the massive 'no-handshake' controversy, conversations around the 'spirit of the game' sprouted again with Suryakumar Yadav as the India captain appealed for obstructing the field against his opposite number Salman Ali Agha in the Asia Cup final on Sunday (September 28).

The contentious moment unfolded during the 16th over of the Pakistan innings, with Salman Agha on strike against Axar Patel. Salman danced down the track for the first ball and drove the left-arm spinner towards extra cover. 

Suryakumar, the fielder, dived to his left but could not stop the ball cleanly. Salman scampered back for a second run and the India skipper's throw hit him.

SKY appealed for obstructing the field, and the third umpire was called upon to assess it. It was found that Salman made no change to his running direction, and thus the appeal was rejected.

Pakistani fast-bowling legend Wasim Akram, who was commentating at the time, did not mine his words in reaction to the appeal, saying, “Where is the sportsman spirit? Made no sense to appeal.”

Earlier, India won the toss and elected to field first in their first-ever face-off with Pakistan in the Asia Cup.

The Men In Blue suffered a huge blow with their star all-rounder Hardik Pandya missing the summit clash due to an injury. He has been replaced by Rinku Singh, who is playing his first match of the tournament.

India Vs Pakistan, T20 Asia Cup 2025 Final: Playing XIs

India: Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy

Pakistan: Sahibzada Farhan, Fakhar Zaman, Saim Ayub, Salman Agha (c), Hussain Talat, Mohammad Haris (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed