IND U19 vs PAK U19 Asia Cup 2025: The Men in Blue continued its no-handshake policy with arch-rival Pakistan in their Asia Cup match in Dubai on Sunday. Both India skipper Ayush Mhatre and Pakistan captain Farhan Yousaf didn't shake hands and defied the ICC rule of shaking hands before the match.
As per PTI, the ICC tried to make sure that politics stayed out of this event and wanted the players to show the spirit of sportsmanship.
A BCCI official had informed PTI that the players were not given any instructions till now, as the board would have revealed its view to manager Anand Datar. He also revealed that the Men in Blue decided not to shake hands and that the match umpire was told in advance.
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India and Pakistan began their campaign on a high note as they had beaten teams like the UAE and Malaysia. As both teams are expected to qualify for the next round, there are high chances that they will face each other again. It will be interesting to see whether they will shake hands then.
THE HANDSHAKE SNUB SAGA
Since the last few mega events like the men’s Asia Cup, the Women’s World Cup, and the Rising Stars Asia Cup, the Men in Blue haven't shaken hands with Pakistan, as it was their way of showing tribute to the Indian Army and the victims of the Pahalgam terror attack.
But things changed in the first edition of the Women’s T20 World Cup for the Blind, where both teams shook hands. It had become a topic of discussion as they tried to keep politics away from the game.
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Both these teams had gone to the venue in the same bus, and also congratulated each other and tried to show sportsmanship.