India vs Pakistan, T20 World Cup 2026: “Wait for 24 hours..” – Suryakumar Yadav Stays Tight Lipped On Handshake Controversy

Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav avoided giving a clear answer on Saturday evening when asked if his team would shake hands with Pakistan players during their ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 Group A match at R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Sunday.

For the unversed, India and Pakistan players have been avoiding shaking hands since last year’s Asia Cup 2025 in Dubai, in protest of the Pahalgam incident and the follow-up Operation Sindoor carried out by the Indian Armed Forces.

India vs Pakistan, T20 World Cup 2026: Suryakumar Yadav Avoids Clear Answer On Handshake Controversy

Ahead of the high-voltage clash, Suryakumar Yadav addressed a press conference, where he was asked whether the Indian side would shake hands with the Pakistani players. Responding to the question, Surya said, “Wait for 24 hours. We are here to play cricket. Have good food and sleep,”

When another question was asked on similar lines, Suryakumar said, “Let’s break the suspense tomorrow. I just spoke about it. What’s more important? You tell me. The game is important. Let’s play the match first. Whether the handshake happens at the toss or not, we will see that tomorrow. Let’s just wait 24 hours.”

Ever since the Asia Cup 2025, both India and Pakistan have largely ignored the pre- and post-match handshakes. There was a lot of tension between the two teams during the Asia Cup 2025 a few months ago. The issue started after a group stage match when India, led by Suryakumar Yadav, didn’t shake hands with Pakistan. The PCB was not happy with the gesture and complained to the ICC, saying match referee Andy Pycroft did not properly maintain the spirit of the game.

Salman Ali Agha On The Handshake Controversy

Earlier in the day, the Pakistan captain, Salman Ali Agha, was also asked the same question. He said he would like the upcoming match to be played in the right spirits. He said:

“The game should be played in the same spirit. And what I expect, obviously, does not matter. But I feel that the game should be played the same way as it has been since the beginning of cricket. And the rest is up to them and whatever they want to do,”

Meanwhile, speaking about the high-voltage India vs Pakistan match on Sunday, Suryakumar said, “We were prepared for all fixtures. We had to play a game against Pakistan on February 15. Our flights were booked for this game. We were prepared to play four league games. We were only focused on the preparation and what we needed to do.”

“In my view, if you play any game, there is always pressure. And when you play an India-Pak game, it’s more about the occasion. It’s a big platform, obviously. So, no matter how much you say that it’s just another game, we want to play cricket. Back of the mind, it’s a human tendency that you know which game you are going to play. And we don’t play them often as well. We don’t even play them regularly. But at the end of the day, we try to keep things simple. Whatever hard work or practice we have done, we try to execute it in games. And we try to place our best foot forward on the ground,” he added.

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