Colombo | Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav did not shake hands with his Pakistan counterpart Salman Ali Agha during toss of their T20 World Cup clash in Colombo on Sunday, maintaining the status quo since the Asia Cup in Dubai last year.
"The No handshake Policy will continue," a BCCI official in Colombo confirmed to PTI an hour before the game.
There will also be no handshake between players and support staff of two teams after the end of the match, a norm that has been followed by Suryakumar as a mark of respect for the families of the victims killed in the Pahalgam terror attack and solidarity towards Indian Army in the aftermath of Operation Sindoor.
That the status quo will be maintained was clear, when on the eve of the game, neither among Surya or Salman committed to shaking hands with the Pakistan skipper stating that he would like to "uphold" the spirit of cricket.
In case of the Indian team, the emotions of the Pahalgam terror attack in April remain raw. There was a huge backlash after Suryakumar shook hands with PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi at the pre-tournament captain's press meet in Dubai.
Colombo | Pakistan won the toss and opted to field against India in a high-pressure T20 World Cup game here on Sunday.
India made two changes to their playing XI, bringing in fit-again Abhishek Sharma and Kuldeep Yadav in place of Sanju Samson and Arshdeep Singh respectively.
Pakistan named an unchanged team.
"It (pitch) looks a bit tacky, so we feel it will assist the bowlers for the first few overs so we want to use that. We are relaxed in our group and excited for this challenge. Bigger ground than SSC and the pitch is slower than SSC," said Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha.
India captain Suryakumar Yadav said they were looking to bat first.
"We won last two games defending so we don't want to change it. It is an occasion, it's a high-stake game. This sport teaches you a lot of things, any side can win the game on a given day," said Suryakumar.
Teams:
Pakistan: Saim Ayub, Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Agha(c), Babar Azam, Mohammad Nawaz, Shadab Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Usman Khan(w), Shaheen Afridi, Abrar Ahmed, Usman Tariq.
India: Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan(w), Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah.