Image: The Indian cricket team has decided to avoid all handshakes / © ESPNcricinfo
A new era for the Indian cricket team has started across the T20I and Test formats. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, who carried the team across these formats for more than a decade, announced their retirements at the same time. Despite this, the Indian team has maintained its aggressive mindset in the T20I format.
In the shorter format of the game, the team has players such as Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, Tilak Varma, and many more, who believe in smashing boundaries from the very first ball of the innings. This aggressive mindset of the Indian cricket team has not just been visible with the bat; it is also visible with their approach towards the opposition.
Recently, it seems that the Indian cricket team has adopted the No Handshake Policy, which was seen in not just one but two matches this year. With this policy, the Indian team doesn’t shake hands with their opponents; instead, they prefer to walk back to the pavilion, as it was seen in the match between India and Pakistan.
Although the team doesn’t have any core enemies on the cricket field, this policy has surely put them in the limelight. This was not the first time the team got the No Handshake Policy, as it was first introduced during the COVID era, when teams did not shake hands deliberately, due to the pandemic. However, the Indian team has adopted this policy once again in 2025, as it was seen in two games over the last four months.
The India tour of England 2025 was definitely one of the best Test series that has ever been played this year. Ahead of the fourth Test match, England had taken a lead in the series by 2-1, which ensured that if the team won the 4th Test, the series would be in their hands. This match was also important for the Indian team to either win or draw, to keep the series on their side.
| England vs India, 4th Test, Manchester | |
|---|---|
| 1st Innings | |
| India: 358 (114.1 Overs) | England: 669 (157.1 Overs) |
| Sai Sudharsan: 61 (151) | Joe Root: 150 (248) |
| Ben Stokes: 5/72 | Ravindra Jadeja: 4/143 |
| 2nd Innings | |
| India: 425/4 (143 Overs) | |
| Ravindra Jadeja: 107* (185) | |
| Chris Woakes: 2/67 | |
| Match Drawn | |
For the fourth Test, both teams went against each other at Old Trafford. England, winning the toss, decided to field first, and this decision helped the team in the majority of the match. In the first innings, India ended up scoring 358 runs, which was considered to be a good total at this pitch. But the Indian bowlers were unaware of the storm that was about to come from the English batsmen.
When England came down to bat, the team had unleashed its carnage from the start. Batting for almost two days, the team ended up scoring 669 runs, which made it clear that the match would either end in a draw or in England’s favour. But the Indian team was not going down without a fight, and this spirit was seen from the start of their innings.
With the pitch becoming more batter-friendly, it became easier for the Indian team to score runs, and eventually, they were able to cut off the lead taken by England. Despite losing the first two wickets in the initial over, the team gave a great fight, putting England on the back foot for the remainder of the game.
The partnership between Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar had troubled the English bowlers to a great extent. Ben Stokes, who was the captain of the England cricket team, stepped up to Ravindra Jadeja to ask him for a draw and was also ready to shake hands with him. This was the first time in this Test, the Indian team adopted a no-handshake policy.
Ravindra Jadeja told Stokes that he would have to ask the Indian captain, Shubman Gill, before shaking hands, but Stokes insisted on shaking hands with him. Later, Jadeja told him that he and Sundar wanted to complete their centuries, which made the English captain frustrated. He also went on to taunt Ravindra Jadeja by saying, “You want to complete your century against Harry Brook.”
Later, Jadeja went on to complete his century, as Harry Brook approached him to shake hands. But Jadeja and Sundar once again refused, saying that now Sundar also wants to complete his century. At this time, Ben Stokes approached them and even told them that they should have batted faster if they wanted to achieve these milestones.
It can be said that Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja deserved to complete their century, as they had been batting for a long time on a day five crease. Thus, they went on to complete the same, after which both teams agreed to end the match in a draw. Later, they went to shake hands with Ben Stokes, but the No Handshake Policy had already been seen by the Indian fans.
The Asia Cup’s most anticipated match between India and Pakistan was also the most controversial match between these two teams. It looked more than a normal match, due to the rising geopolitical tensions between both countries, which had led to a war-like situation between them for a few days in the month of May.
On 22 April 2025, the Pahalgam attack took place in Jammu and Kashmir, where 26 Hindus lost their lives. A Pakistani terror group took responsibility for the same, and this issue became a national matter, escalating tensions between the two countries along the border. The Indian army also responded well with its Operation Sindoor, targeting the terrorist camps in Pakistan.
At this time, the tensions were more on social media, as the Pakistani players posted a lot against India, favouring the Pahalgam attack. Such things hurt the emotions of Indians, and there were calls that the Indian team should not play against Pakistan across any of the ICC tournaments. As soon as the match was announced between these teams in the Asia Cup, fans started to boycott the same.
| India vs Pakistan, Group A, Dubai | |
|---|---|
| Pakistan: 127/9 (20 Overs) | India: 131 (15.5 Overs) |
| Sahibzada Farhan: 40 (44) | Suryakumar Yadav: 47* (37) |
| Kuldeep Yadav: 3/18 | Saim Ayub: 3/35 |
| India Won by 7 Wickets | |
More than half of the stadium was not filled, as the BCCI also did an invisible boycott of this game, showcasing that the nation comes first. This match, involving Pakistan and India, saw the Indian cricket team adopt the No Handshake Policy yet again. During the toss, Salman Agha and Suryakumar Yadav stood in the middle, where the Pakistani captain won the call and decided to bat first.
After the coin came in the favor of Pakistan, Suryakumar Yadav didn’t shake hands with the Pakistani captain and deliberately stepped back with his hands folded together. On the field, both teams did not interact much with each other, but taking a look at the players’ actions, it was clear that the tensions were high.
The match between India and Pakistan went in favour of the Indian team, as they won the game one-sided. India’s captain, Suryakumar Yadav, finished the match with a six to complete the chase with 7 wickets and 25 balls left. After he finished the game, he called Shivam Dube, who stood at the non-striker’s end, to walk back to the pavilion.
After the game, when both teams shook hands with each other, Suryakumar Yadav led all his players back to the team’s locker room, as the Pakistani players waited for them to arrive to shake hands. When they saw the Indian team was heading towards their locker room, Salman Agha went along with his team to their side.
But the Indian team shut the doors to the Pakistani team, ending the game without any formal handshake between them. It was a show of honour by the Indian cricket team, while the Pakistani players were frustrated with the level of disrespect they had seen at the international level. As a result, their captain went on to skip the post-match conference.
Suryakumar Yadav, the Indian captain, appeared for the Press Conference and said:
Our government and BCCI, we were aligned today. Rest, we took a call. We came here just to play the game. That’s the end. We gave a proper reply.
With these statements, the Indian skipper made it clear that they were just here to play the match, not to shake hands with Pakistan amid the rising tensions between the countries.
Later, he also talked about the Pahalgam attack and India’s success with the Operation Sindoor, saying:
A few things in life are ahead of sportsperson’s spirit also. I said in the presentation as well that we stand with all the victims of the Pahalgam terror attack. And we stand with their families also, express our solidarity. We dedicate this win to our brave armed forces who took part in Operation Sindoor. And as they continue to inspire us all, we try our best whenever given an opportunity to inspire them as well, if possible.
The PCB was unhappy with India not shaking hands with their team, as they lodged a complaint against the match referee after the incident. However, it didn’t take time for the ICC to decline the appeal made by the PCB to remove the match referee for the remainder of the Asia Cup.
It will be interesting to see whether India continues its No Handshake Policy against Pakistan if both teams clash against each other yet again in the Asia Cup.