The tournament witnessed a series of controversies involving
arch rivals India and
Pakistan, who participated in the backdrop of the
2025 India–Pakistan conflict. Ahead of a group stage match, the tournament organizers mistakenly played a few seconds of "
Jalebi Baby" instead of
Pakistan's national anthem, prompting criticism from the Pakistani audience.
Handshake-gate The tournament was noted for a controversy dubbed “handshake-gate,” which arose during the
coin toss of the group-stage match between India and Pakistan, when both captains refrained from shaking hands, reportedly on the advice of match referee
Andy Pycroft. Following the conclusion of the match, the Indian players left the field without exchanging handshakes with the Pakistani team. A similar situation occurred during the
Super Four match and the
final match. After the incident during group stage match with India, Pakistan's head coach
Mike Hesson expressed disappointment, while the
PCB lodged a formal protest against Pycroft and later suspended its operations director Usman Wahla over the handling of the episode. PCB's demand for the removal of Pycroft from the remainder of the tournament was rejected by the
International Cricket Council (ICC). The subsequent group stage match between Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates was delayed by an hour amid uncertainty over Pakistan's further participation in the tournament, but eventually went ahead after the PCB claimed that Pycroft had apologised for the "miscommunication", while the ICC confirmed he would continue as match referee. ===Breach of
ICC Code of Conduct and Disciplinary hearings=== The
BCCI lodged a complaint with the ICC against Pakistani players
Haris Rauf and
Sahibzada Farhan for their "provocative" gestures during the
Super Four match between India and Pakistan. A video published by
NDTV showed that Rauf repeated the same gesture after taking a wicket, indicating his actions were not limited to a single incident. Following disciplinary hearings conducted by members of the
ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees, Suryakumar Yadav was found guilty of breaching Article 2.21 (
conduct that brings the game into disrepute) and was fined 30 per cent of his match fee and given two demerit points. Sahibzada Farhan was found guilty of the same offence and was issued an official warning with one demerit point. Haris Rauf was found guilty of the same offence and was fined 30 per cent of his match fee and given two demerit points. Rauf was later found guilty of a further breach in the
final on 28 September and received two additional demerit points. Because he accumulated four demerit points within a 24-month period this converted to two suspension points under the ICC framework, resulting in a two-match ban that ruled him out of
Pakistan's ODIs against South Africa on 4 and 6 November 2025. In other incidents during the tournament
Jasprit Bumrah received an official warning and one demerit point under Article 2.21, while
Arshdeep Singh was cleared of an alleged breach of Article 2.6 (
use of obscene or offensive gestures), and therefore no sanction was imposed on him. and India refused to accept the winners' trophy and medals from
Asian Cricket Council (ACC) president
Mohsin Naqvi, who is also
Pakistan's Interior Minister and Chairman of the PCB. When Pakistani captain
Salman Ali Agha was presented with the runners-up cheque of US$75,000 by
Aminul Islam of the ACC, he flung it to the ground almost instantly, attracting both loud cheers and boos from the crowd still present in the stands. Despite the Indian team's objection, Naqvi insisted on presenting the trophy and medals to them himself, resulting in an impasse. India were not awarded the trophy and medals during the ceremony, and Naqvi reportedly left the stadium with the trophy. Following this, Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav celebrated the Indian victory by hoisting an 'imaginary trophy' with his team. Later he criticised the handling of the ceremony and said his team had been "denied" the opportunity to lift the trophy. BCCI secretary
Devajit Saikia described Naqvi's act of "taking away" the trophy and medals as "unsporting", and announced that the BCCI would protest his actions at the ICC conference in November. On 1 October, three days after the final, Naqvi reiterated his refusal to give the trophy to India unless the team personally collected it from him at the ACC head office in Dubai. ==Broadcasting==