Bulawayo: India captain Ayush Madre and Pakistan captain Farhan Yousuf avoided shaking hands ahead of the ICC Men’s Under-19 World Cup match at Queen’s Sports Club on Sunday.
After winning the toss, Farhan opted to bowl first and went to the toss announcer for a pre-match discussion.
Madre appeared to reciprocate the gesture, not shaking hands between the two captains.
The incident has once again drawn attention to the ongoing sportsmanship debate involving India and Pakistan, which has featured prominently in several major cricket events in recent years.
The tension dates back to the 2025 ACC Men’s Asia Cup, where similar scenes unfolded during the group-stage competition, leading to the Super Four round and ending in the final.
Despite India defeating Pakistan in the final, the Indian players reportedly refused to receive the trophy personally from PCB president and ACC president Mohsin Naqvi.
Comparable incidents have been reported during high-profile ACC events, including clashes between the two sides at the Women’s World Cup and Hong Kong Super Six, where customary handshakes and courtesies were not observed.
Things escalated further when India decided not to play Pakistan in the second season of the World Championship of Legends (WCL), skipping both the group-stage match and the semi-final encounter.
In contrast, blind women from India and Pakistan brushed off political tensions at the Blind Women’s T20 World Cup in Sri Lanka in November.
While there was no handshake after the toss, both sides greeted each other warmly at the end of the match and exchanged compliments after taking the same bus to the ground together.