By News18,Rudransh Khurana

Copyright news18

Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav side-stepped all Pakistan-related questions in his post-match press conference after the 2025 Asia Cup clash against Oman on Saturday. He cheekily pretended not to understand the sly references in some questions, and replied to others with mentions of the crowd and the sport, avoiding any further controversies and distractions in what has been an emotionally-charged campaign.
India beat Oman by 21 runs in their final group stage clash. The format of the tournament means they’ll now face Pakistan a second time in a week on Sunday in the Super-Four stage. The match will take over from last Sunday’s high-octane one, where India almost uneventfully won in three hours, before the pandora’s box of drama boke loose when the Men in Blue avoided to shake Pakistan players’ hands.
That meant that although the Oman game was a close one, most questions focused on Pakistan. One asked him about the historic rivalry between the teams, which was much more intense in the 2000s.
“At that time, I don’t know. I have never played. So I can’t say,” he laughed. “If we talk about rivalry, I don’t know what kind of rivalry you are talking about. After going on the ground, I feel that the stadium is full. And when the stadium is full, I tell my team and everyone that it is time for entertainment. So many people have come to watch the match, so you have to entertain everyone. Let’s play some good brand of cricket. And according to me, we don’t think much,” he said.
Another question asked Suryakumar about the ‘other things’ India did against Pakistan, without explicitly mentioning the handshakes, and he simply said: ‘By other things, you mean we bowled well, isn’t it?’
Close your room, switch off your phone: Surya’s advice to his teammates
The meltdown is likely to continue irrespective of the result of Sunday’s game and the Indian skipper believes it’d be crucial for his team to shut off as much noise as possible.
“Close your room, switch off your phone and go to sleep. I think that’s best. See, it’s easy to say but sometimes it is difficult because you meet a lot of friends, you go out for dinner and you have a lot of players also around who like to see all these things. So it’s very difficult but then it’s on you, what you want to listen to, what you want to have in your mind and go on and have a practice session or go on and have a play again.”
“But I have been very clear with all the boys, I think it’s very important if you want to do well in this tournament and going forward, we will have to shut out a lot of noise from outside and take what is good for you. I am not saying shut the noise completely but take what is good for you and someone can give you good advice as well which can help you in the game, which can help you on the ground. So I think that is very important for me and rest I feel everyone is good in a good space,” he added.