The handshake saga involving India and Pakistan players continued at the ongoing Under-19 Asia Cup. During the toss at ICC Academy ground at Dubai both the captains Ayush Mhatre and Farhan Yousaf didn’t shake hands, sticking to the recent policy that has existed between both teams since the senior teams faced off in the Asia Cup in September and the women’s team at the World Cup in October.
On the back of the Pahalgam terror strikes, the tensions between both the countries have been high and when the senior teams faced off in the Asia Cup, India captain Suryakumar Yadav had led the way and refused to shake hands. The incident repeated through the course of the tournament where the tension in the ranks rose and led to some spats between both set of players.
The episode repeated itself in the ICC Women’s World Cup and ahead of the U19 Asia Cup, all eyes were on the junior team. However, at the toss in Dubai, Mhatre and Yousaf didn’t exchange any pleasantries and even avoided eye contact. After Yousaf won the toss and put India to bat, both captains just carried on with the interaction with the broadcaster.
Made to bat first on a green top after a brief spell of rain, India lost their aggressive opener Vaibhav Suryavanshi early before Mhatre in the company of Aaron George brought the team back on tract. Although Mhatre couldn’t carry on for long, despite getting a strong start, George was at his elements even as wickets fell around him. The Hyderabadi, who got off the mark with a boundary of inside-edge, showed his compact skills in his knock of 85 off 88 deliveries which included 12 boundaries and six.
Although India got off to a strong start, they couldn’t build a big partnership as Pakistan attack struck at regular intervals. With the middle-order unable to provide ample support, Kanish Chouhan run-a-ball 46 helped India to a respectable total.
India had started the tournament on a resounding note, defeating UAE by a 234-run margin in the opener with Suryavanshi scoring a century.
