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Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar has called out the Indian cricket team for not shaking hands with Pakistani players in the past six months whenever these two teams played against each other at a big stage, terming this as 'silly thing' as India are set to clash with Pakistan in their next group-stage clash of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 in Colombo on Sunday.
The 60-year-old Indian commentator on Sunday tweeted on X, "This 'no shaking hands' is such a silly thing that India has started. It's unbecoming of a nation like ours. Either play properly within the spirit of the game or don't play at all." Following the attack in Pahalgam in April last year and rising tensions between the two nations, the senior Indian men's cricket team had refrained from shaking hands with Pakistan players before or after matches throughout the Asia Cup 2025 trilogy. This 'no handshake' trend continued in subsequent encounters between India and Pakistan in various ICC and Asian Cricket Council (ACC) tournaments, including the Asia Cup Rising Stars and the Under-19 Cricket World Cup matches. However, ahead of the clash, Pakistan skipper Salman Agha expressed hope that things would return to normal and the players would shake hands for the sake of the "spirit of cricket". During the pre-match presser, Agha 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." However, Surya, at his most witty self throughout the presser, chose to maintain the suspense, saying, "24 ghanta ruk jaao na uske liye? Why put so much stress on that? We have come to play cricket. We will play good cricket. We will take all those calls later tomorrow. Wait for it. Eat well and go to sleep. Kal kar deta hu na break suspense. Abhi important kya hai abhi? Game na, ruk jaao 24 ghanta (Wait 24 hours for that? Why put so much stress on that? We have come to play cricket. We will play good cricket. We will take all those calls later tomorrow. Wait for it. Eat well and go to sleep. I will break the suspense tomorrow. What is important now is the game; wait for 24 hours." Both India and Pakistan have played two matches each in the tournament so far. Both have registered victories in those games. While India will enter the contest on the back of wins against the United States of America and Namibia, Pakistan has defeated the Netherlands and the USA. While the Suryakumar Yadav-led India are placed on top of Group A standings with four points and the Net Run Rate (NRR) of +3.050, Pakistan are placed second with four points, too, and an NRR of +0.932. Meanwhile, Intense rainfall was reported in Colombo earlier today, but conditions are expected to remain dry for the evening start time, though 100% cloud cover is anticipated. India has a dominant historical record against Pakistan in this format, winning 13 out of 16 total T20I encounters, including a 7-1 lead in T20 World Cup matches. (ANI)
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