Nisshin: A high-stakes Asian Games cricket final between arch-rivals India and Pakistan on Saturday has once again brought off-field diplomatic tensions to the fore, leaving questions unanswered on whether the traditional post-match handshake will take place.
India secured their spot in the with a dominant 124-run victory over Sri Lanka in the semifinals on Thursday. However, the narrative surrounding Saturday’s clash is rapidly shifting from tactical matchups to sports diplomacy.
Since Operation Sindoor last year, Indian cricket teams have consistently maintained a “no-handshake” stance against Pakistani players in Asian Cricket Council (ACC) and International Cricket Council (ICC) fixtures as a gesture of solidarity with the Indian armed forces. While that stance remains non-negotiable in ACC and ICC tournaments, uncertainty remains over whether the policy applies to events governed by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA).
Neither the OCA nor the International Olympic Committee (IOC) explicitly mandates handshakes. However, exchanging pleasantries is considered an essential element of fair play and sporting etiquette under Olympic tradition.
Past Olympic and international sporting events offer varying precedents for such geopolitical stances:
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2016 Rio Olympics: Egyptian judoka Islam El Shehaby was sent home by his own team and reprimanded by the IOC for breach of fair play after refusing to shake hands with Israel’s Or Sasson.
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Global Sporting Events: Following the ongoing conflict in Eastern Europe, several Ukrainian athletes have routinely declined handshakes with Russian and Belarusian opponents across various sporting disciplines.
Unlike the cricket team, other Indian contingents at the ongoing Games-including squash and table tennis players-have continued standard post-match handshakes with Pakistani competitors.
A final directive on the cricket team’s protocol will be delivered by BCCI Secretary Devajit Saikia upon his arrival in Nagoya for the match, which ICC Chairman Jay Shah is also slated to attend. Regardless of whether handshakes take place on the field, both teams are expected to share the medal podium following the match, mirroring the women’s event last week where India took gold and Pakistan secured bronze.