Women’s T20 WC: Harmanpreet Kaur, Fatima Sana skip handshake again during toss time

Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur and Pakistan’s Fatima Sana skipped the customary handshake at the Women's T20 World Cup toss in Birmingham. The gesture cements a growing 'no handshake' trend driven by political tensions across recent cricket fixtures

Birmingham: India captain Harmanpreet Kaur and Pakistan skipper Fatima Sana did not shake hands at the toss in their 2026 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Group A clash at Edgbaston on Sunday, thus continuing a trend that has been present in the matches involving the arch rivals.

It was the second successive ICC tournament where both captains avoided the customary gesture, after it first happened during the 2025 Women’s ODI World Cup clash at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. After India won the toss and chose to bat first, Harmanpreet was quick in speaking to broadcaster Mel Jones and didn’t even shake hands with Fatima.

---

It will be interesting to see if players from both teams will extend customary post-match handshakes, which also has been missing from India-Pakistan games. India lead Pakistan 6-2 in Women’s T20 World Cup meetings and have won four of their last five T20Is against them. The ‘no handshake policy’ has become a usual feature of India-Pakistan contests since the 2025 Men’s T20I Asia Cup in the UAE, especially after the Pahalgam attack and Operation Sindoor.

Former India T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav and his Pakistani counterpart Salman Ali Agha also avoided handshakes across three meetings in Dubai and again at the 2026 Men’s T20 World Cup clash in Colombo. The same happened during U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup and Rising Stars Men’s Asia Cup meetings too.

Asked before the match if she expected a handshake, Harmanpreet chose not to mention it. “Well, I think we are here for cricket, and we only talk about cricket- except cricket, we don’t talk about anything, and I don’t even think about anything except cricket. Cricket has been our dream from day one, and we only discuss cricket. We are only thinking that it’s another game that we are going to play.

“Definitely, pressure is going to be there, which I earlier agree to that – whenever we play against Pakistan pressure will be there. But at the same time, it’s only about how we are going to enjoy that pressure because in any international game, pressure is going to be there; it’s only about giving your 100 percent in that game and enjoying each and every moment,” she had said.