Suryakumar Yadav breaks silence on whether India players would shake hands with Pakistan in T20 World Cup

Here's what Suryakumar Yadav said was asked whether his team would shake the hands of Pakistan players in the T20 World Cup Group A match.

Suryakumar Yadav remained coy on Saturday evening when he was asked whether his team would shake the hands of Pakistan players in the T20 World Cup Group A match at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Sunday. The biggest talking point ahead of the encounter has been whether the two teams would exchange pleasantries after an intense buildup to the marquee match. In the Asia Cup 2025, the two sides met three times, and there were no handshakes, as the contests were played just a few months after the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor.

India captain Suryakumar Yadav (AFP)

It was not surprising to see Suryakumar being asked about the handshake, as he had led the charge against Pakistan a few months earlier. However, he refrained from giving a definitive answer, telling the reporters to wait for 24 hours.

“Wait for 24 hours. Eat well, sleep well, we will see tomorrow,” the Indian captain told reporters on Saturday during the pre-match press conference.

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.”

Earlier in the day, the same question was posed in front of the Pakistan captain, Salman Ali Agha, as well. He said he would like the upcoming match to be played in the right spirit, adding that it all depends on the Indian camp on what they want to do.

“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,” he told reporters.

Plenty of bad blood

There was plenty of bad blood between the two teams in the Asia Cup just a few months back. It all started after the group-stage game, when India, led by Suryakumar, refused to shake hands with Pakistan. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) took offence and complained to the ICC about the conduct of match referee Andy Pycroft, who it said failed to uphold the spirit of the game.

Earlier, there was uncertainty about the T20 World Cup match between the two teams, as the Government of Pakistan initially announced it would boycott the game against India to show solidarity with Bangladesh. However, eight days later, a U-turn happened, and the decks were cleared for the match to go ahead.

Speaking about playing against Pakistan, 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.