The Indian cricket team continued their ‘no-handshake policy’ against Pakistan in the U19 Asia Cup 2025 despite alleged request from International Cricket Council (ICC).
A report by PTI claimed that the ICC wanted politics to be kept away from the U19 competition and even requested for the handshakes to take place. In the past, Indian players did not shake hands with their Pakistan counterparts in the senior men’s Asia Cup, Women’s ODI World Cup and the Rising Stars Asia Cup T20 competition. The trend continued on Sunday during the U19 Asia Cup Group A match when the India captain Ayush Mhatre did not shake hands with Pakistan captain Farhan Yousaf after the toss.
Earlier, PTI said that the ICC said that if India did not want to shake hands with Pakistan, they will have to inform the match referee in advance.
“The boys haven’t been told anything. But obviously BCCI has given explicit instructions to its manager Anand Datar. Now if Indian boys don’t shake hands with Pakistan team then match referee will have to be informed in advance.”
“We know for a fact that ICC doesn’t want politics to take front seat when it comes to junior cricket. So it is a case of both bad optics and public sentiment,” a BCCI official in the know of things told PTI on the condition of anonymity.
