IND U19 vs BAN U19: The growing political and sporting tensions between India and Bangladesh have now entered the global stage as both teams faced each other in the Group A match of the Under-19 World Cup 2026. A video had gone viral on social media where skippers Ayush Mhatre and Bangladesh's deputy Zawad Abrar didn't shake hands at the toss, and that summarised the current relations between these two teams. It should be noted here that Bangladesh's vice-captain, Abrar, came for the toss instead of skipper Azizul Hakim, even though he was part of the playing XI. Post the delay due to rain, Abrar won the toss and chose to bowl first.

Although there were technical conversations about the surface and changes in the team were professional, the skippers not shaking their hands is what caught everyone's attention. A similar incident happened in the 2025 Asia Cup and the Women's World Cup, where the Indian teams didn't shake hands with arch-rivals Pakistan owing to political tension between them.

This began as a stand against Pakistan last year and has now extended to Bangladesh, on the back of some political disagreements, which have also entered the senior men's T20 World Cup 2026 as well.

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Watch the video here:

The relations between BCCI and BCB have been strained after the removal of high-profile player contracts ahead of IPL 2026, and there have been debates around the venue of the T20 World Cup.

After the toss ended, the attention was shifted to the sport. Abrar backed his bowlers, whereas Mhatre also revealed that they too would have chosen to bowl, but are ready to post a mammoth target.

"We will field first. The wicket looks damp, and we would like to take advantage of the first 10-15 overs. We've prepared well, and we did well in the Asia Cup as well. We've got two all-rounders playing today," Zawad Abrar said at the toss.

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"We also would have bowled first; the wicket looks damp, but it's OK. The batting was a small concern; it was a small target, and we should have chased it down for the loss of one or two wickets, but it's ok. No changes for us," Mhatre was heard as saying.

 


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