New Delhi: Team India showed their anger and feelings about the deadly Pahalgam terror attack by refusing to shake hands with Pakistani players at last year’s Asia Cup in Dubai.
Now, the no-handshake policy has been extended to Bangladesh amid strained bilateral relations following the fleeing of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to India and repeated attacks on minority Hindus in Bangladesh.
After the toss for the ICC Under-19 World Cup Group B match on Saturday was delayed due to rain, India captain Ayush Mhatre and Bangladesh’s stand-in skipper Zawad Abrar walked out to the middle at Bulawayo (Zimbabwe), but avoided the customary handshake ahead of their ICC Under 19 World Cup Group A match.
It was otherwise business as usual as Abrar won the toss and explained to toss presenter Rohan Gavaskar why Bangladesh decided to field first. Mhatre said he was looking to bowl first as well because of damp conditions, but the buzz was about the lack of courtesy between the two sides, that is a part and tradition of cricket matches.
Toss news 🗞️#TeamIndia will bat first in their second group game 🆚 Bangladesh!️#ICCMensU19WC | #INDvBAN 👉 LIVE NOW ➡️ https://t.co/DGP23ftABG pic.twitter.com/5hZ9PFHbFL
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) January 17, 2026
The trend had started during the Asia Cup in September 2025, when India captain Suryakumar Yadav refused to shake hands with Pakistani counterpart Salman Agha at the toss in all three clashes between the traditional rivals – group stage, Super Four and the final.
Many were curious to see if that practice continues against Bangladesh, given the frosty ties between the two nations and BCCI’s instruction to Kolkata Knight Riders to drop Bangladeshi pacer Mustafizur Rahman from their IPL roster.
Many netizens felt it was the way to go against ‘enemies’ Bangladesh, while some expressed disappointment that the toss tradition had been done away with.
The Bangladesh cricket board has refused to travel to India for next month’s T20 World Cup, and ICC is yet to take a call on the issue.
