India U-19 stars Suryavanshi and Mhatre are set to shine in the Asia Cup, but all eyes will be on the controversial handshake with Pakistan, as ICC pressures BCCI on junior cricket protocol.
As India’s next crop of cricketing prodigies gear up for the U-19 Asia Cup in Dubai, the conversations at breakfast tables and practice nets are not just about bat swings, field placements or match-ups. Instead, a familiar but sensitive question looms: will India’s juniors shake hands with Pakistan’s players?
The issue, which has dominated senior cricket over the past year, now shadows the youngsters too. India’s next-gen stars — Vaibhav Suryavanshi and Ayush Mhatre — headline the squad, but the spotlight is split between cricketing brilliance and a diplomatic dilemma.
Split Between Optics and Sportsmanship
Over the past year, India’s senior men’s team, followed by the women’s ODI side and the Rising Stars T20 squad, refused handshakes with Pakistan, citing solidarity with the Indian Army and victims of the Pahalgam terror attack. The gesture became symbolic, a statement embraced by fans and players alike.
But for juniors, the International Cricket Council reportedly wants a course correction.
“The boys haven’t been told anything. But obviously BCCI has given explicit instructions to its manager Anand Datar. Now if Indian boys don’t shake hands with Pakistan team then match referee will have to be informed in advance,” a BCCI official was quoted as saying in a PTI report.
There’s a sense of realism in the official’s words — a recognition that junior cricket, unlike its senior counterpart, carries expectations of civility, innocence and diplomacy.
“We know for a fact that ICC doesn’t want politics to take front seat when it comes to junior cricket. So it is a case of both bad optics and public sentiment.”
The clash between the two viewpoints — optics vs. spirit — makes Sunday’s India-Pakistan match more than just another U-19 fixture.
The Cricketing Stakes: India Walk In as Favourites
Beyond the controversy, there is little doubt about India’s cricketing dominance. In Group A, alongside Pakistan, UAE and Malaysia, India are overwhelming favourites.
Both Suryavanshi and Mhatre enter the Asia Cup in blistering form, having turned heads during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
Mhatre, the fiery Mumbai and CSK opener who now leads India U-19, smashed back-to-back centuries and a fifty in the SMAT group stages. Suryavanshi, meanwhile, etched his name into domestic record books as the youngest player in SMAT history to score a century, doing so against Maharashtra.
Between them, they’ve already played more than 30 senior-level games and scored nine centuries across formats — a tally higher than the combined senior-level centuries of all the other seven teams in the tournament.
For a U-19 championship, those numbers border on extraordinary.
Match-Ups That Matter: UAE First, Pakistan Later
India open against UAE on Friday — a fixture expected to help the squad settle into conditions. But all eyes are on Sunday, when India meet Pakistan in what many consider an emotional dress rehearsal for next year’s U-19 World Cup.
Pakistan, like India, are expected to sail through to the semi-finals. Malaysia and UAE, earnest but inexperienced in the 50-over format, are unlikely to pose significant threats.
The Bigger Picture: Beyond Cricket?
Even as India prepare for their title run, the conversation around handshakes underscores the helpless position young athletes sometimes find themselves in — caught between political messaging, federation policy and global sporting expectations.
For the teenagers in blue, the campaign is about runs, wickets, nerves and dreams. For the administrators, however, Sunday’s moment at the boundary rope may spark more debate than the scoreboard.
India U-19 Squad for Asia Cup 2025
Ayush Mhatre (C), Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Vihaan Malhotra (vc), Vedant Trivedi, Abhigyan Kundu (wk), Harvansh Singh (wk), Yuvraj Gohil, Kanishk Chouhan, Khilan A. Patel, Naman Pushpak, D. Deepesh, Henil Patel, Kishan Kumar Singh, Udhav Mohan, Aaron George.