Dubai, Aug 29 (SocialNews.XYZ) India head coach Amol Muzumdar on Saturday brushed aside queries regarding the handshake protocol for their scheduled clash against Pakistan on September 5, asserting that the team's entire focus is locked on doing well in their Women's Asia Cup opener against Thailand on Sunday.
“Look, we try to play the best cricket on the ground and off the field stuff, we don't focus on it. We try to play the best cricket that we know on that particular day and we will speak about this when we play that game. But at the moment, we are focusing on tomorrow's game. One game at a time,” Muzumdar said in the pre-match press conference.
The strict no-handshake policy observed by Indian cricket teams against Pakistani opposition traces back to September 2025 during the Men's Asia Cup, following the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22, 2025. In that tournament, the Suryakumar Yadav-led Indian side avoided any kind of handshakes with Salman Ali Agha's team across all three of their encounters, including the title clash.
Since then, the protocol has been consistently upheld across senior, age-group, and women's cricket tournaments. The Indian women's team maintained the policy during their Women's ODI World Cup fixture against Pakistan in Colombo in October 2025, while Indian players stuck to the protocol at the Men's Rising Stars Asia Cup in November 2025.
The stance continued into age-group and world events over the subsequent months. The policy remained intact through both India-Pakistan matches at the Under-19 Asia Cup in December 2025, and no handshakes were exchanged during encounters at the Under-19 World Cup and the Men's T20 World Cup in February 2026.
Most recently, in June 2026, Harmanpreet Kaur's team maintained the ongoing stance, opting not to shake hands with the Pakistani captain and players during the Women's T20 World Cup clash in Birmingham. In the pre-tournament press conference in Dubai, Harmanpreet didn’t give a clear answer when asked if handshakes would happen when the India-Pakistan clash takes place at the Dubai International Stadium.
Meanwhile, India enter the continental tournament as the most successful team in the history of the event, having lifted the trophy seven times previously. Asked whether the team is eyeing an eighth Asia Cup title in the UAE, Muzumdar refused to look too far down the road. “I don't want to go too far ahead. One game at a time. We will focus on tomorrow's game,” he stated bluntly.
Source: IANS
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