India-Born UAE Players Break Silence On Sharing Dressing Room With Pakistan-Origin Players

The worsened political relations between India and Pakistan spilled onto the cricket field as the players squared off in the Asia Cup 2025 match last Sunday. The Indian team decided to avoid handshakes with Pakistan players, sending a message of solidarity to the families of the Pahalgam terror attack victims. Since the conclusion of the Indo-Pak match in the group stage, the no handshake saga remained the hottest talking point in the Asia Cup. However, no such animosity was witnessed within the UAE team, which mostly consists of players born in India and Pakistan.

In an interview, certain members of the UAE team explained the atmosphere of their dressing room amid Indo-Pak tensions on the border and the no-handshake row that engulfed the cricket world.

"Actually, all 17 are of Indian or Pakistani origin. But such thoughts never really come to anyone's mind. We have been playing together for many years, against each other as well as with each other. Even in domestic practice and clubs, many people are the same. So the bonding is very good, and personally speaking, I've never thought about anything like that. We all play like a family, with camaraderie," said UAE star Dhruv Parashar, a Pune-born all-rounder, told India Today.

The 17 members of the team participating in the Asia Cup are mostly of either Indian or Pakistani origin. The likes of Simranjeet Singh, Rahul Chopra, Harshit Kaushik, Dhruv Parashar, and Alishan Sharafu are from India while the list from Pakistan includes Multan-born captain Muhammad Waseem, Haider Ali, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Rohid, and Asif Khan.

In an interview, even Pakistan-born UAE star Haider Ali said that the players function like a family, irrespective of where they are from.

"Look, we never think about whether a player is from India or Pakistan. We are representing UAE because they have shown us respect. There's an element of respect, so we function like a family. For us, it doesn't matter whether someone is from India or Pakistan. We play as players, and they play as players. That's what matters to us; nationality doesn't. See, as I said earlier, we are representing them. We are AS AU (all-national) players. It doesn't matter what is happening in Pakistan or India-that's their headache, not ours. Our focus is on cricket, and we don't pay attention to those things," UAE's Haider Ali, who was born in Lahore, told the media outlet.

Topics mentioned in this article

United Arab Emirates Pakistan Cricket Team India Cricket Team Haider Ali Dhruv Parashar Asia Cup 2025 Cricket