Dubai: The two captains shake hands after the toss of coin before any cricket match.
Sunday was different.
Team India, playing against Pakistan for the first time since the brutal Pahalgam terror attack, was in no mood for pleasantries at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. The mood back home was to boycott the game against Pakistan, but the cricketers had no choice as the government policy did not bar the team from playing against the bitter rivals in any multi-nation tournament.
Suryakumar Yadav gave the coin a flip, and it turned out that Pakistan skipper Salman Agha had called correctly. He told commentator Ravi Shastri, who was conducting the toss, and explained his decision and informed the composition of his team.
As he turned away, Suryakumar approached Shastri. His path crossed that of the Pakistani captain, but there was no customary handshake, or even any eye contact.
The two teams arrived at the stadium to find an almost empty stadium, which is a rarity an hour before any India-Pakistan game.
Spectators did come turn up thereafter, but the 25,000-capacity stadium was hardly full.
