No handshake at toss between India and Pakistan captains

India’s Suryakumar Yadav and Pakistan’s Salman Agha skipped the traditional handshake at the toss during their Asia Cup match, drawing attention amid sensitive bilateral tensions and new sporting protocols

Dubai: India captain Suryakumar Yadav and Pakistan skipper Salman Agha did not engage in the customary handshake during the toss for their Group A Asia Cup contest here on Sunday, drawing attention from across the cricketing fraternity.

A handshake between captains during the coin toss is a convention in international cricket, although not mandated by rule. On this occasion, both leaders refrained from any hand gesture or eye contact.

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After submitting their respective team sheets to match referee Andy Pycroft of Zimbabwe, both captains interacted briefly with TV commentator Ravi Shastri, who was conducting the toss, and then walked off in separate directions.

“Every tournament has its own set of rules and regulations. There are tournaments where protocol demands a handshake at the toss. For the record, Suryakumar Yadav didn’t shake hands with UAE skipper Muhammad Waseem during the last match’s toss either,” a BCCI source familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity.

This is the first meeting between India and Pakistan on the cricket field since the Pahalgam terror attacks in April, which led to retaliatory military action by India across the border in May.

Last month, India unveiled a new sports policy under which bilateral sporting engagements with Pakistan have been restricted. Indian teams and athletes may compete against Pakistan only in multilateral international tournaments.

The policy also prohibits Indian athletes from travelling to Pakistan or hosting teams and individual players from the neighbouring country.

Ahead of the high-voltage fixture, the Indian team reiterated that their focus remained solely on the match. Players, they said, were aware of the surrounding sentiments but had set aside emotions to approach the game professionally.

Both India and Pakistan had won their respective opening games in the tournament.