India’s Sportsmanship Questioned as Under-19 Captain Refuses Handshake with Bangladesh Counterpart

Mumbai: India’s ongoing trend of mixing politics with cricket continued in the ICC Under-19 World Cup when the Indian captain refused to shake hands with the Bangladesh captain during the toss.

The incident marked the first time in an ICC event that a handshake was deliberately skipped at the toss, highlighting rising tensions between the two cricketing nations.

The strained relations follow earlier controversies, including the demand in India to exclude Bangladeshi player Mustafizur Rahman from the IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders. Subsequently, the franchise released Mustafizur Rahman from the team. In response, the Bangladesh Cricket Board initially refused to send its team to India and requested a neutral venue for the ICC event. ICC later prepared a two-member delegation to discuss the matter in Bangladesh, but the Bangladeshi government initially denied visas to Indian official Guru Saxena before eventually granting permission.

The refusal to shake hands echoes similar incidents during last year’s Asia Cup T20, when Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav refused to shake hands with Pakistani captain Salman Ali Agha. During that tournament, India and Pakistan faced off three times, and in all three matches, captains and players avoided handshakes.

In previous events such as the Rising Stars tournament and the Under-19 Asia Cup, players from Pakistan and India also did not shake hands, while athletes from both countries in other sports continued normal sportsmanship gestures.

This incident has once again raised concerns about the politicization of cricket and the importance of maintaining sportsmanship in international tournaments.