The former left-arm spinner of the Indian team, Murli Karthik, has criticized the behavior of the Pakistan side around their boycott drama in the Asia Cup 2025 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Due to the handshake controversy during the India game at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, the PCB threatened to pull itself out of the tournament.

At first, they sent a letter requesting the removal of the match referee, Andy Pycroft, from the rest of the tournament before sending another letter on September 17 to remove the official from the Pakistan games. But the ICC didn’t accept any of these before the game against the UAE was delayed for an hour.  

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“The only word I can think of right now is absolutely childish. If you want to take a stance, then go ahead. But stick to it. Just because you saw there is a financial implication of 16M US Dollars over handshake sag, you backed down. Even kids in kindergarten don’t behave like this.” Karthik revealed during a recent interaction on Cricbuzz.

Watch: Murli Karthik slams Pakistan’s childish behaviour on Asia Cup 2025 boycott drama

Karthik compared the behavior of the Salman Ali Agha-led side with the kids in the kindergarten. He felt that any team should stick to their stance on the entire issue. Along with him, Sunil Gavaskar’s son, Rohan Gavaskar, also reflected on the situation and reckoned that the fans for the Pakistan side would have to stay late at night to see their heroes.

'Absolutely Childish from Pakistan'@kartikmurali & @rohangava9 react, on Cricbuzz Live#AsiaCup2025 #PAKvUAE pic.twitter.com/PQajHcyLBj

— Cricbuzz (@cricbuzz) September 17, 2025

“Again, it’s very funny, and you are holding so many people for no reason. I am not saying this just because it’s Pakistan. For any team, if you want to take a stand, take it and go home. Don’t suddenly think, ‘ohh noo!!! They are not holding it. It’s like bargaining.” Karthik highlighted.

“People are watching at home, and suddenly the game gets delayed for an hour. Even the fans in Pakistan, kids in Pakistan, will now have to stay quite late at night, just because they want to see their heroes playing the game.” Rohan Gavaskar explained in the same video.