COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha says it is up to India’s players to decide whether they will shake hands with his team before and after Sunday’s much-anticipated T20 World Cup match.
Political and diplomatic tensions between the two nations have often boiled over on to the cricket field. The game in Colombo will be the first time they have met since last year’s acrimonious Asia Cup tournament in the United Arab Emirates won by India and where players refused to shake hands.
Pakistan’s government threatened a boycott of Sunday’s match after the International Cricket Council kicked Bangladesh out of the World Cup for refusing to play matches in India, citing security concerns.
Pakistan only agreed to play after intense discussions with the ICC. The fixture is the major revenue earner for the ICC.
Tensions came to a head in the Asia Cup when India captain Suryakumar Yadav refused to shake hands with Agha. Heated moments followed between the two sides throughout the tournament, with Suryakumar and Pakistan’s Haris Rauf fined for breaching the ICC’s code of conduct.
India went on to win the Asia Cup but refused to accept the trophy from Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Mohsin Naqvi.
“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,” Agha told media on Saturday about the possibility of the players shaking hands.
Suryakumar, for his part, was non-committal.
“Why are you highlighting that?” Suryakumar asked reporters. “We are here to play cricket. We will play good cricket. We will take all those calls tomorrow. We will see tomorrow.”
Political and military tensions have meant the two teams have not played a bilateral series for years.
India has not traveled to Pakistan since 2008 and Pakistan visited India for the 50-over World Cup in 2023 but has since played ICC tournaments at neutral venues.
India has defeated Pakistan 12 times in the 16 T20 games they have played. It also has an impressive 6-1 record in the eight T20 World Cup matches since the first edition in 2007, with one being tied.
“We don’t have a good record against them in World Cups,” Agha said. “But whenever you come to play a new match, it’s a new day and you have to play good cricket to win.
“You can’t change history. You can learn from it. We learned from it and we’ll try to do a good performance tomorrow and win the match.”
Suryakumar also said his players will put history behind them because past memories can lead to complacency.
Pakistan spinner Usman Tariq’s bowling action has been the subject of discussion in recent days.
The Indian media has questioned whether Tariq’s action is legal because he pauses before delivering the ball.
“The guy has been cleared twice and he has done whatever the ICC said, and whatever it requires to bowl in international cricket,” Agha said of Tariq. “I don’t know why people are saying so many things about him, but the one thing I can assure you, he doesn’t care about that because he’s very used to this stuff.”
India’s aggressive opening batter Abhishek Sharma’s health has also been the subject of discussion after he missed the match against Namibia due to a stomach infection.
