The handshake controversy between India and Pakistan has continued to rage a new spin on Sunday, keeping headlines buzzing almost a week after things turned serious during a high-tension encounter in Dubai.
After India’s victory against Pakistan in the Super Four match at the Dubai International Stadium, Gambhir unexpectedly ordered his team to greet only the umpires after the match, avoiding any post-match interaction with the Pakistani team. The directive seemed to follow a trend that started earlier in the day when Indian acting captain Suryakumar Yadav skipped over Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha during the toss, going directly to presenter Ravi Shastri before shaking hands with match referee Andy Pycroft.
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When the match ended, there was once more no handshake between the two teams. Match-winners Tilak Varma and Hardik Pandya straight away went to the pavilion, shunning the traditional sportsmanlike greeting with their opposite numbers. What drew further eyeballs, however, was what happened next.
In a surprising gesture, Gambhir was spotted encouraging the Indian team to come out onto the field not to meet the opposition team, but to just show respect to the match officials. The team obediently complied, walked over to the umpires for a quick handshake and returned without saluting the Pakistani players, who seemed confused by the gesture. Gambhir later uploaded a photo of players such as Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill on Instagram along with a one-word caption: “Fearless.”
In cricketing terms, India’s opening batsmen Abhishek (74) and Gill (47) set the foundation for the 172-run victory by compiling a strong 105-run stand off just 59 balls. With their attacking style of play, they relieved pressure off the rest of the batting order to secure an easy victory with seven balls to spare. This latest victory reaffirmed India’s dominance over their arch-nemesis in multi-nation tournaments.
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Going forward, India are to play Bangladesh on Wednesday at the same stadium, and Pakistan will travel to Abu Dhabi for a game against Sri Lanka in a must-win situation on Tuesday. If India win, they can almost guarantee themselves a place in the final, while Pakistan are now battling to keep themselves alive in the tournament.
Elsewhere, in the previous Super Four match, Bangladesh beat Sri Lanka by four wickets in Dubai on Saturday. The top two sides from the Super Four will proceed to the final on September 28 at the Dubai International Stadium.
