Handshake Controversy has taken center stage in the Asia Cup 2025.
India vs Pakistan cricket matches are among the most-watched and emotionally charged events in the sport. But following the tragic Pahalgam terror attack, even the most die-hard Indian cricket fan wanted India to skip the Pakistan clash in the Asia Cup 2025. Although a complete boycott was unlikely due to India’s geopolitical aspirations in the game, the Indian players’ decision to skip the traditional post-match handshake with their Pakistani counterparts has ruffled feathers in the Pakistani camp. The Pakistan cricket camp has latched onto the handshake controversy, using it as a convenient smokescreen to deflect attention from their humiliating loss.
Introduction- Handshake controversy
The India-Pakistan cricket match is never limited to being just a sport. For the two neighbors, the game is also unfortunately used to score political points. In the past, even with hostilities, India continued to play Pakistan and wanted to keep politics out of the sport. Only when Pakistan-backed terrorists orchestrated the Mumbai Terror act, India severed bilateral cricket ties with Pakistan. They, however, continued to play Pakistan in Multinational tournaments like the ICC tournament.
During multinational tournaments against Pakistan, the Indian players never showed any animosity on the field of play, handshakes were done, a few laughs were exchanged, and the odd hugs too. This was always falsely construed as a relationship between the two countries getting normalised. This always hurt the Indian nationalists in the past as India continued to be a victim of Pakistan-sponsored terrorism.
India makes a Strong Statement – The Handshake Controversy
Cricket diplomacy has long been a proxy for Indo-Pak relations. A handshake or refusal can send signals far beyond the boundary rope. India’s refusal to shake hands after the match sends a strong message to Pakistan that not all is well between the two countries and that they have not forgotten the gruesome terror attack in Pahalgam, where tourists were executed based on their religion.
By this gesture, the world will sit up and take notice and understand that India will avoid diplomacy against countries that harbour terrorism.
Pakistan is using Handshake Controversy as a convenient distraction from the big defeat
Pakistan cricket is in turmoil. From nepotism to favouritism, Pakistan cricket over the years has gone from a good team to a mediocre one. The cricket board leadership is handled by the government of the day and is always on thin ice due to instability in Pakistan politics.
In recent times, Pakistan cricket has become very inconsistent, and their recent losses to the USA and some low-ranking teams have come as a huge embarrassment to the cricket crazy nation.
India and Pakistan used to be arch-rivals in cricket, but now there is a glaring gap between the quality of the two sides. It has become a one-sided contest.
What did Pakistan achieve by making the handshake controversy big ?
- Pakistan has tried to divert the attention of the public from the humiliating loss against India
- Their current game is full of tactical errors, selection blunders, or underperformance.
- Leadership instability: frequent changes in coaches and captains.
- Play the victim card.
- Shifting the Narrative Away from On-Field Failures to off-the-pitch dramatics.
It’s classic misdirection
The Politics of the Handshake in Sports: More Than Just a Gesture
The Shake of Hands or lack of it can be a stage for diplomacy, defiance, and even protest. Suryakumar and the Indian team expressed themselves by without even saying a word.
The act of handshake is not a requirement in the sport and is just customary.
Pakistan complained to the ICC for the removal of Andy Pycroft – The match referee, but India’s action could not be contested, and the ICC rejected PCB’s complaint.
History of the Handshake Refusal in Sport – This Handshake Controversy not the First time
When players from politically hostile countries meet on the field, the handshake becomes a symbolic moment of diplomacy, often scrutinized by media and governments alike. India followed this protocol until recently, when it finally drew the line in the Asia Cup and used it as a sign of protest.
In the 2023 French Open, Ukrainian tennis player Marta Kostyuk refused to shake hands with current world No. 1 Belarusian player Aryna Sabalenka. She felt sportsmanship does not erase the horrors of war.
During the Cold War, a handshake between athletes from the United States and the Soviet Union would be seen as fraternizing with the enemy.
Athletes from Iran, Lebanon, and other nations have refused to shake hands with Israeli athletes or in some case withdrew from competition.
Refusing a handshake can be louder than any statement. It can challenge regimes, question injustice, and shine a spotlight on geopolitical issues.
Summary
The handshake controversy by the Indian team should be observed through a geopolitical lens and what the gesture represents.
Pakistan tried to make an issue out of the handshake controversy and play the victim card, but a clear stand from the Indian captain during the post-match press conference meant that Pakistan could have easily made it a non-issue and focused on how to win the next game and qualify for the Super 4s. Instead, they politicized the whole situation and complained to the ICC.
Their complaint and threat to the ICC of boycotting the next match against the UAE if the match referee is not removed has fallen on deaf ears.
It is yet to be seen if Pakistan can be true to their words and boycott the UAE game.
Sports can never be separated from politics and nationalism.
As India could not boycott the Pakistan game for geopolitical reasons, the decision to not shake hands and do away with the hypocrisy has struck a positive chord with all Indians at home who saw this gesture from the Indian captain and the Indian team as the next best thing to a boycott.
Expect the Indian Women’s Cricket Team to repeat ‘handshake controversy’ when they meet Pakistan in the upcoming Women’s Cricket World Cup
Our website : supersports360.com
Trending Article:
Controversy Erupts After Indian Cricket Team Refuses To Shake Hands
Top 2 Women Cricketers To Watch This World Cup
Women’s World Cup Preview – Dominant Australia
When a cricket captain reversed the batting Line up
Bowlers- Economy rate vs Strike rate
MasterClass in Fielding Positions
Join us on Twitter (x) : @360supersports
Leave A Comment