New Delhi: Is the no-handshake policy adopted by Indian cricketers against the Pakistan side just a sham to keep viewers happy?
If former England captain Alastair Cook is to be believed, there is no real animosity between players of the two sides and they chat behind closed doors.
“But aren’t they talking behind closed doors? I read somewhere that everyone’s just chatting away,” Cook claimed in the latest episode of Stick To Cricket.
“It like, it is only for show, isn’t it? On the actual field, they are not shaking hands, but then behind closed doors, they are all talking and are all fine,” he stated, as reported by News18.
The others in the show were Michael Vaughan, David Lloyd, and Phil Tufnell
The discussion opened up on their reflections of the fixture that seems to be a mismatch in recent times.
“Dare I say it, Pakistan against India, that’s a mismatch, isn’t it,” Tufnell said.
“I mean it look to me that way. It seems to me every time Pakistan play India they look intimidated by India on a cricket field,” Vaughan added.
“That whole situation is sour isn’t it? You know, it is just sad.”
“Not shaking hands on a cricket field,” Vaughan exclaimed in dismay over the current situation between India and Pakistan.
This was when Cook stepped in and claimed that the ‘no-handshake’ gesture was just for show and the players have been talking as usual behind closed doors.
India trounced Pakistan by a mammoth 61 runs in their group stage encounter in the ongoing ICC T20I World Cup. Of the last nine T20 matches the two sides have played, India has won eight.
In the last match, India romped to a total of 175 runs thanks to Ishan Kishan’s 77-run knock, before bundling out Pakistan for just 114 runs.
