Colombo – A day out from the most talked-about fixture of any global tournament, India captain Suryakumar Yadav refused to confirm whether he and his players will offer Pakistan a pre-match handshake. Twice the question was put to him. Twice he smiled and batted it back.
“Wait for 24 hours, no,” he said with a grin, the first time it was raised. “Why are you [speculating] now? We have come here to play cricket, we’ll play good cricket. We will take the call [on handshake] later. Dine well, sleep.”
Pressed again for clarity, the response barely changed. “I will break the suspense tomorrow. I just said wait for 24 hours, we will play a good game and then after the game… what is important tomorrow? The game is important.” When a reporter pointed out that captains traditionally shake hands at the toss, he simply added: “We will see that at the toss.”
Those comments mirror the stance of his opposite number, Salman Agha, who earlier in the afternoon said he expected both sides to respect the spirit of cricket but likewise kept any handshake chat to a minimum. The backdrop, of course, is last year’s Asia Cup, when a post-match snub between the sides sparked days of noise across social media and television debates.
Sunday’s group match at the Premadasa Stadium is India v Pakistan, so expectation, pressure and pageantry will come as standard. Suryakumar conceded as much, admitting there will be “pressure, nerves, butterflies in the stomach”. He continued: “When you play an India-Pakistan game, it is more about the occasion. It is a platform. You can say what you want, like it’s just another game. But you know which game you are going to play. And we don’t play them often regularly.”
India’s record in the rivalry remains lopsided. They have never lost to Pakistan at a senior men’s World Cup – 50-over or T20 – and they swept their neighbours three times at the 2025 Asia Cup, including the final. Last year Suryakumar even suggested the term “rivalry” had lost its edge. This weekend, he was more guarded, stressing the need to wipe the slate clean.
“You have to start from zero,” he said. “What you did in the past, historically, you can’t carry that to the ground because then sometimes it can lead to complacency. You might go ahead of the game. If you want to be in control and want to keep a relaxed mind, then you have to always have a fresh start.
“So, personally, I feel that will be a better approach for us tomorrow – to treat it as a fresh game, a normal league game we have come to play in a T20 World Cup because then you stay fresh, take good calls and stay relaxed.”
Pakistan arrive having beaten the Netherlands and the United States in their opening matches – solid rather than spectacular but enough to bank early points. Suryakumar said he had watched both games and praised Agha’s side for “good cricket”. He did acknowledge one potential advantage for the men in green: “They’ve been here the whole time, so they know the square and the outfield.” Still, India’s players have plenty of Premadasa experience from tours and multi-team events, so conditions should not feel alien.
Selection-wise, India look settled. Their top three – Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli – all scored heavily in the warm-ups, while the management remains bullish about the spin-pace balance on offer. Pakistan, conversely, have juggled their middle order but found rhythm through the left-arm pace of Shaheen Shah Afridi and the leg-spin of Usama Mir. Whether the surface will turn as much as usual is a talking point; afternoon rain has been a regular visitor, and a sticky evening could favour seam.
Off the field, the city is filling fast. Local ticket portals report near-capacity sales, hotels are quoting peak-season rates and Colombo’s famed Galle Face Green has sprouted makeshift stalls selling blue and green shirts in equal number. Several Sri Lankan newspapers led with the handshake angle on Saturday morning, though the general public seemed more interested in whether Virat Kohli can repeat his 82* from Melbourne 2022 or if Babar Azam, now batting at number four, can orchestrate a chase.
Yet amid the bustle, Suryakumar insisted the talk inside the Indian room is simple. “Enjoy the moment, stay calm, execute your basics,” he said. “If we do that, results look after themselves.” No grandstanding, no fiery rhetoric. Just another derby, or as close to “just another” as India-Pakistan ever gets.
And the handshake? We will all find out at 2.30 pm local time, when the captains walk to the middle, flip the coin – and decide whether to extend a hand.
