NEW DELHI: Indian players' refusal to exchange post-match handshakes with their Pakistani counterparts has not gone down well with former Pakistan players, including Shahid Afridi, who has now levelled a new accusation, claiming the players acted at the behest of the government.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has escalated the matter by threatening to pull out of the tournament if match referee Andy Pyrcroft was not removed from the remaining matches. Their official complaint with the ICC, however, has been rejected.

PCB had stated that Pycroft asked Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha, at the time of the toss, not to shake hands with his Indian counterpart. They held Pyrcroft responsible for the fiasco that has stirred tensions between the two arch-rivals.

"When the Asia Cup began, social media was filled with the boycott campaigns ahead of the match between India and Pakistan. Considering there was pressure, it is no surprise that the players and the BCCI were told not to shake hands with our team," Afridi stated during a discussion on Samaa TV.

"In my opinion, there was no sportsman spirit. They would once again be shamed in front of the world. I think our stance was bang on. Our PCB chairman has taken the right stand. Overall, it's outstanding," Afridi commented.

"I have always said that players should be great ambassadors and not an embarrassment. I don't want to fault the Indian cricketers; they were given orders from up above," he added.

After the match that India won by seven wickets, Suryakumar and his men did not exchange handshakes with their cross-border rivals as a mark of respect for the Pahalgam terror attack victims and their families.

Afridi pointed out that Suryakumar did shake hands with Pakistani players (Salman Ali Agha and Mohsin Naqvi) at the captain's press conference, suggesting the act of avoiding handshakes during the match was deliberate and possibly influenced by external pressure.

"The same Suryakumar Yadav shook hands with Salman Agha and Mohsin Naqvi at the captain's press conference. Now in front of the crowd, the government was not able to handle the social media pressure. Indian players have now become an embarrassment in front of the world," Afridi concluded.