India, Pakistan hockey players shake hands despite boycott in other sports

Johor (Malaysia): Moving away from the recent template set by the country’s cricketers, the Indian junior men’s hockey team players exchanged pleasantries with their counterparts from Pakistan in the Sultan of Johor Cup here on Tuesday.

In videos and photos that have gone viral, the U-21 players from both sides can be seen greeting each other and indulging in high fives, a far cry from the “no handshake” row that dominated headlines recently.

The gesture comes days after the men’s and women’s cricket teams of India and Pakistan avoided handshakes during their respective matches in the Asia Cup in the UAE and a World Cup game in Colombo, months after the Pahalgam terrorist attack and the retaliatory ‘Operation Sindoor’ by India that destroyed terror infrastructure in Pakistan.

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India and Pakistan met each other thrice in the Asia Cup and did not shake hands on any of those occasions, something the women’s team too followed when they played the arch-rivals in their World Cup game in the neutral Sri Lankan venue.

India’s refusal to engage in post-match handshakes and accept the Asia Cup winner’s trophy from Asian Cricket Council chairman Mohsin Naqvi sparked a diplomatic row, prompting Pakistan to lodge an official protest with the ACC and the International Cricket Council (ICC).

Naqvi, who is also the PCB chief and the country’s interior minister, refused to hand over the trophy to the victorious Indian team and simply walked away with the silverware.

A furious BCCI justified the team’s refusal saying that India cannot accept the trophy from a person who is “waging a war against the country.” However, things were very different here on Tuesday.

The match too lived up to the billing as India played out a 3-3 draw against the traditional rivals in their third group-stage match of the ongoing age-group tournament.

In a seesawing affair, India fought back from a two-goal deficit to take the lead, only for Pakistan to strike late and ensure the points were shared.

The result also meant that India remained undefeated in the tournament.