Karachi: India will retain its current policy to get the relationships with Pakistan in Cricket in their upcoming collision in the ICC World Cup World Cup 2025, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Secretary Devajit Saikia said Wednesday.
In an interview with BBC, BCCI secretary Saikia said that there was no certainty that Indian players will offer the usual handshake thanks to Pakistan players during their upcoming match in Colombo on 5 October.
“I can’t predict anything, but our relationship with that country (Pakistan) is the same, there is no change in the past week,” he said.
“India will play that match against Pakistan in Colombo, and all cricket protocols will be followed. I can only assure that everything there is in the MCC [Marylebone Cricket Club] Cricket regulations, that will be done. Whether there will be handshakes, or there will be cuddling, I can’t assure you at the moment, “Saikia added.
His comments come in the background of the controversial and widely convicted behavior of India during the recently closed Asia Cup, where the men’s team refused to shake hands with Pakistani players and made political explanations during ceremonies after the game and press conferences.
India also refused to collect the winner trophy from President Mohsin Naqvi, president of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), who also serves as chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).
The comments from the BCCI secretary came shortly after the Indian sports journalist Boria Majumdar suggested in a social media post that the upcoming world cup competition for women would wear the same off-field tensions that witnessed during the recent Asia cup, where the team of India’s team criticism attracted unsporting behavior.
“The India-Pakistan match in Colombo will not be another cricket match. It will be a continuation of the Asia Cup, and the only thing that changes is the gender,” Majumdar wrote in a post on X, pointing to possible refusal of handshakes, raised drama and political testing.
“There will be no handshakes, a lot of off-field drama and increased bets,” the Indian journalist claimed.
In the meantime, a source in the PCB Geo News said that the message of the PCB chairman of the ladies team remained the same as that of the men.
Prior to the Asia Cup final, Naqvi had told the men’s team to express itself freely and left the rest to him, the source added.
