COLOMBO (Kashmir English): The prospects of a handshake between Indian and Pakistani players in their T20 World Cup clash today, remain uncertain and under high suspense.
While both nations have agreed to play the World Cup game after heightened diplomatic tensions and the boycott announcement, the traditional pre- and post-match handshakes are not guaranteed.
Both India and Pakistan captains remained non-committal on handshake during pre-match briefings in Colombo. India captain Suryakumar Yadav declined to confirm if his men would shake hands, stating he wanted to “keep the suspense” for match day.
On the other hand, Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha hoped that the game would be played in the “right spirit”.
On Saturday, Salman Agha said that the onus was on India whether to shake hands or not.
Agha told reporters about the possibility of the two teams shaking hands, saying “The game should be played in real spirit, the way it has been played since it started. The rest is up to them (India), what they want to do.”
However, based on previous developments, the prospects for a formal pre-match handshake between the Pakistan and India cricket teams in the T20 World Cup clash today are low to uncertain.
The most lucrative clash in world cricket has sold out the 35,000-capacity R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo with hundreds of millions more expected to watch on television.
During the last year’s Asia Cup, the Indian team opted not to shake hands with Pakistani players. They followed the protocol throughout all three of their encounters in that tournament.
The International Cricket Council is of the view that handshakes are not mandatory and fall under the jurisdiction of the individual national teams.
India, Pakistan match details
Sunday, February 15
6:30 pm PKT
ICC Men’s T20 World Cup
T20 27 of 55
Venue: R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Both teams enter the match unbeaten in the group stage.
