Colombo: Taking a leaf out of the book of the Indian men’s cricket team, women cricketers of the country also refused to shake hands with their Pakistani counterparts ahead of their World Cup tie in Colombo on Sunday.
Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur walked away after the toss without shaking hands with Pakistani captain Fatima Sana. The toss was won by Pakistan, which chose to field.
It, however, seemed that Sana was aware that there would be no handshake. Both she and Harmanpreet walked out separately, and the duo did not even look at each other. Once the coin flip was done, the two captains spoke to the presenter, Mel Jones, before making their way back to their respective dressing rooms.
A major row had erupted after Suryakumar Yadav, captain of the men’s team refused to shake hands with Salman Ali Agha of Pakistan after the toss during their first game of the recently concluded Asia Cup.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) complained against match referee Andy Pycroft, accusing him of siding with India. The Pakistani team even threatened to pull out of the tournament unless Pycroft was removed from the panel of match referees. The International Cricket Council (ICC) stood its ground though and refused to meet Pakistan’s demand.
Things got worse after Suryakumar dedicated the first victory to families of the Pahalgam terror strike victims and Indian armed forces. There was bitter acrimony in the remaining two matches between the two sides that followed. India won both of them.
The championship ended in a farce after Suryakumar and his teammates refused to accept the winner’s trophy from Pakistani interior minister and Asian Cricket Council (ACC) chief Mohsin Naqvi. Instead of allowing some other dignitary to hand it over, Naqvi walked off with the cup.
It is still lying with the ACC, along with the individual medals for the winning team, and India has lodged a protesr with the ICC.
