When India and Pakistan meet within the T20 World Cup on Sunday, the match won’t simply be vital for its on-field cricket motion but in addition the political local weather that has shrouded the encounter and the match itself.
The South Asian nations share a decades-old historical past of wars and hostile relations. The latest encounter got here in Might 2025, when the nuclear-armed neighbours have been engaged in a four-day cross-border battle.
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This 78-year-old bitter historical past has fuelled the sporting rivalry, which has – at instances – led to match boycotts, cancelled matches and floor invasions.
Gamers from each groups have usually been concerned in heated encounters on the sphere, however have additionally publicly shared lighter moments off it.
Nonetheless, the lingering hostility of the final battle has made a extreme and long-term affect on cricket, which is essentially the most extensively adopted sport in South Asia.
We glance again on the deteriorating cricket relations between India and Pakistan for the reason that Might battle and the on-field occasions steeped in politics:
September 14 – No handshake row
The controversy started when India’s Suryakumar Yadav opted out of the customary pre-toss captains’ handshake with Pakistan’s Salman Ali Agha, prompting followers to surprise if politics have been at play.
The doubts have been cleared on the finish of the match when, after hitting the profitable runs, Yadav and his batting companion Shivam Dube walked off the sphere with out approaching the Pakistani captain and staff for the standard post-match handshakes.
Pakistan’s gamers trudged off in a bunch and waited for the Indian squad, however the Indian contingent solely shook fingers with one another earlier than strolling into their dressing room and shutting the door because the ready Pakistan gamers seemed on.
Later, Yadav confirmed that his staff had deliberate to not shake fingers with Pakistani gamers all alongside, linking it to the April 22 assault in Indian-administered Kashmir that preceded the Might battle.
“A number of issues in life are above sportsman’s spirit,” the 35-year-old mentioned.
September 17 – Pakistan refuse to take the sphere in opposition to UAE
The fallout of the handshake row carried over into Pakistan’s subsequent group recreation within the Asia Cup, after they refused to take the sphere in opposition to the UAE in protest in opposition to match referee Andy Pycroft.
Pakistan insisted that Pycroft be faraway from their fixture as he was the important thing official within the India match and helped perform India’s request that the captains not shake fingers on the toss.
“Andy Pycroft had barred the captains of India and Pakistan from shaking fingers throughout their match,” the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) mentioned in an announcement.
The Pakistan-UAE match was delayed by an hour as negotiations came about behind closed doorways, and Pycroft apologised for the “miscommunication”.
September 21 – Gamers alternate heated phrases, make references to battle
When the groups met for the second time within the Asia Cup, gamers from either side have been seen exchanging verbal blows in the course of the pitch.
Pakistan’s Haris Rauf had a go at India’s batter Abhishek Sharma, who later mentioned his match-winning innings of 74 runs was a response to Pakistani gamers.
“The way in which they have been coming at us with none purpose, I didn’t prefer it in any respect,” Sharma mentioned after the match.
Rauf was additionally seen making gestures in the direction of the Indian supporters whereas fielding on the boundary. He held up his fingers to point the numbers six and 0, a reference to Pakistan’s claim of downing six Indian jets in the course of the Might battle.
The quick bowler additionally made gestures indicating an plane nosediving into the bottom.
Following the match, the Board of Management for Cricket in India (BCCI) lodged a criticism with the Worldwide Cricket Council (ICC) in opposition to Rauf and Pakistani batter Sahibzada Farhan, who marked his half-century with a mock gun celebration.
Pakistan, too, lodged a criticism in opposition to India’s captain Yadav for utilizing his post-match press feedback to say the Indian missile assaults in Pakistan.
September 28 – India refuse to obtain trophy from Pakistani official
The controversial match peaked within the last when India, who beat Pakistan by 5 wickets, refused to just accept the Asia Cup trophy as a result of it was offered by Mohsin Naqvi, who’s the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) president in addition to the chairman of the PCB.
Naqvi can also be Pakistan’s federal inside minister.
“We now have determined to not take the Asia Cup trophy from the ACC chairman, who occurs to be one of many important [political] leaders of Pakistan,” Devajit Saikia, the chairman of the Board of Management for Cricket in India (BCCI), mentioned.
The ultimate award presentation was delayed by greater than an hour as a consequence of India’s refusal and Naqvi’s insistence on presenting the trophy. The Indian staff celebrated by pretending to carry a trophy.
India’s captain Yadav added it was the staff’s resolution to refuse the trophy and “nobody instructed us to do it”.
October 5 – Handshake row hits Ladies’s Cricket World Cup
When India and Pakistan faced off on the ICC Ladies’s World Cup 2025 in Sri Lanka, the Indian girls’s staff adopted the precedent set by the boys’s facet by not providing to shake fingers with the opposition.
November 4 – ICC sanctions Indian and Pakistani gamers for on-field behaviour
5 weeks after the conclusion of the Asia Cup, the ICC mentioned Rauf, Farhan and Yadav had been discovered responsible of breaching its code of conduct and bringing the sport into disrepute.
Yadav and Rauf have been fined 30 p.c of their match charges from the September 14 match and acquired two demerit factors every, whereas Farhan walked away with a warning and one demerit level.
Rauf was discovered responsible of the identical offence within the last and handed the identical punishment, which led to a two-match ban on him.
In the meantime, Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah, who displayed a plane-crashing celebration of his personal within the last, was additionally discovered responsible and handed one demerit level.
January 25 – Pakistan casts doubt on T20 World Cup participation
Following Bangladesh’s ouster from the T20 World Cup, Pakistan mentioned it could rethink its personal presence on the match.
“The prime minister is just not in Pakistan proper now. When he returns, I’ll have the ability to offer you our last resolution,” PCB chief Naqvi mentioned.
February 1 – Pakistan declares boycott of India match
In an unprecedented resolution at a World Cup, Pakistan’s authorities mentioned its staff wouldn’t take the sphere in opposition to India on February 15.
A number of days later, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif revealed the transfer was an act of solidarity with Bangladesh.
February 9 – Pakistan reverses boycott
Greater than every week later, Pakistan reversed its resolution and mentioned its cricket staff had been ordered to take the sphere within the match on Sunday.
Pakistan’s authorities mentioned it had “reviewed formal requests prolonged by the Bangladesh Cricket Board, in addition to the supporting communications from Sri Lanka, the United Arab Emirates, and different member nations”, which sought “a viable resolution to latest challenges”, referring to its resolution to boycott the sport.
