India’s no-handshake policy towards Pakistan returned into focus as the bitter rivals geared up to face each other in the 27th match of the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2026.
Tension between the two countries have spilled over from politics into cricket in recent years. The already poor bilateral relation between them deteriorated further last year in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack. India’s players declined to engage in the customary handshake with the Pakistan team at the toss and after the match on all the three occasions in the Asia cup last year.
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India and Pakistan captains on handshake:
On the eve of the huge clash in the World Cup, both the captains were asked whether the players would indulge in the customary handshake. However, India captain Suryakumar Yadav as well as Pakistan captain Salman Agha decided against disclosing whether the players would shake hands with the opposition.
“Now wait for 24 hours for that. Why put so much focus on that? We have come to play cricket. We will play good cricket. We will take all those calls later tomorrow. Wait for it. Eat well and go to sleep,” said Suryakumar Yadav.
On the other hand, Salman Agha said: “We will see about it tomorrow.”
“Cricket should be played in (right) spirit. My personal opinion may not matter. But cricket should be played according to how it has always been meant to be played. It’s up to them to decide what to do,” Agha added.
No handshake policy continues:
As Suryakumar and Agha walked out for the toss on Sunday, attention was on whether they would break the no-handshake policy. However, the Indian captain decided against ending the tradition and refused to shake hands with his Pakistani counterpart.
India to bat first:
Talking about the match, Pakistan won the toss and have opted to bowl first. Speaking at toss, Agha said: “We want to bowl first. It looks a bit tacky, so we feel it will assist the bowlers for the first few overs so we want to use that. We are relaxed in our group and excited for this challenge. Bigger ground than SSC and the pitch is slower than SSC. Same team for us.”
On the other hand, Suryakumar said: “Not at all, we were looking to bat first. We won last two games defending so we don’t want to change it. It is an occasion, it’s a high-stake game. This sport teaches you a lot of things, any side can win the game on a given day. Two changes. Abhishek Sharma comes in and Kuldeep Yadav is in for Arshdeep Singh.
Playing XIs:
India: Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan(w), Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah
Pakistan: Saim Ayub, Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Agha(c), Babar Azam, Mohammad Nawaz, Shadab Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Usman Khan(w), Shaheen Afridi, Abrar Ahmed, Usman Tariq
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