India’s Suryakumar Yadav and Pakistan’s Salman Ali Agha through the coin toss at Asia Cup match on September 14, 2025. — Reuters
COLOMBO: Will there be any halt within the lingering shadow of the “no handshake” controversy that continues to hover over Indo-Pak cricket relations, or will it refuse to fade?
What started through the high-voltage clashes of the Asia Cup has now turn into a diplomatic speaking level in Colombo, with uncertainty persisting regardless of a reported patch-up between stakeholders brokered by the Worldwide Cricket Council (ICC).
Whether or not that understanding features a reversal of the controversial pre-match and post-match no-handshake stance stays unclear. Sources throughout the cricketing fraternity say there is no such thing as a official phrase but on any revised protocol.
Even officers of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) have maintained a studied silence, neither confirming nor denying if a thaw is predicted within the frosty pre-match formalities.
On the opposite aspect, visiting Indian journalists have been candid. In accordance with one senior journalist from Kolkata, the earlier place is unlikely to vary. “The policy of no handshake will probably continue. Jay Shah cannot easily step back from it, as it may not sit well politically back home,” he remarked, referring to the influential determine throughout the Board of Management for Cricket in India (BCCI). The problem, he advised, is not nearly cricketing etiquette however has political undertones that make flexibility troublesome.
