India-Pakistan rivalry continues without handshakes at Women’s Asia Cup

India and Pakistan continued their no-handshake protocol during their Women's Asia Cup Group A clash in Dubai on Saturday. Captains Harmanpreet Kaur and Fatima Sana avoided the traditional greeting at the toss, continuing a practice maintained by Indian teams since 2025

Dubai: India and Pakistan continued their strict no-handshake protocol in the 2026 Women’s Asia Cup clash at the Dubai International on Saturday, with captains Harmanpreet Kaur and Fatima Sana avoiding the traditional pre-match greeting at toss time.

When former Sri Lanka player Farveez Maharoof called Fatima to speak after she won the toss, there was no handshake between her and India captain Harmanpreet Kaur. After the toss proceedings were over, the handshake didn’t happen at all.

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It follows a policy adopted by Indian cricket teams across senior, age-group, and women’s teams games following diplomatic tensions between the two nations since April 2025.

Speaking ahead of the start of the tournament, India head coach Amol Muzumdar had brushed aside queries regarding the no-handshake protocol. “Look, we try to play the best cricket on the ground and off the field stuff, we don’t focus on it.

“We try to play the best cricket that we know on that particular day and we will speak about this when we play that game. But at the moment, we are focusing on tomorrow’s game. One game at a time,” Muzumdar had said at that time.

The decision to avoid formal pleasantries traces back to September 2025 during the Men’s Asia Cup held in the UAE, when the Suryakumar Yadav-led Indian side avoided handshakes with Salman Ali Agha’s team across all three encounters, including during the tournament final in Dubai.

Since then, Indian teams have consistently maintained their no handshake stance. The Indian women’s team followed the policy during their Women’s ODI World Cup fixture against Pakistan in Colombo in October 2025, while similar scenes occurred at the Men’s Rising Stars Asia Cup in November 2025.

The pattern extended through the Under-19 Asia Cup in December 2025, as well as the Under-19 World Cup and the Men’s T20 World Cup in February 2026. Most recently, in June 2026, Harmanpreet’s team opted against shaking hands with Pakistani players during their Women’s T20 World Cup meeting in Birmingham in June.

In a pre-tournament press conference in Dubai, Harmanpreet refrained from offering a definitive answer when asked if the protocol would remain active for the latest installment of the rivalry. But Saturday’s toss confirmed that the no handshake stance remains firmly in place.