 "India’s captain refused to shake hands with Pakistani skipper during an Asian Youth Games kabaddi match. Images: @MeghUpdates")
The handshake snub by Indian players against their Pakistani counterparts in sporting events continues, as the Indian youth kabaddi team captain recently refused to shake hands with the Pakistani skipper.
The incident took place in Bahrain during a match at the Asian Youth Games on Monday. In the videos going viral on the internet, Indian youth kabaddi team captain Ishant Rathee can be seen ignoring the handshake with his Pakistani counterpart at the toss, as he didn’t even make eye contact with the opposition team’s skipper.
India captain refuses handshake with Pakistan at kabaddi match
Rathee shook hands with the officials but offered no such gesture to the Pakistan captain. The Pakistani skipper was seen offering a handshake to Rathee, but did not even react.
India won the 3rd Asian Youth Games by a massive margin as they defeated Pakistan 81-26 despite the controversy surrounding the game.
Indian players snubbing handshake with Pakistani athletes has become a trend of sorts, it seems, after Indian cricket team captain Suryakumar Yadav opted for such a boycott at the Asia Cup 2025.
Suryakumar and Team India players did not shake hands with Pakistani cricketers in all three matches at the Asia Cup 2025. SKY ignoring Salman Ali Agha at the toss in the first group game had led to a massive outrage as Pakistan demanded action against match referee Andy Pycroft and also threatened to pull out of the tournament.
However, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) later reversed its decision and participated in all matches, including the final, which they lost to India by five wickets.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsPakistani players like Sahibzada Farhan and Haris Rauf were also seen making provocative and insensitive gestures against India during the Asia Cup matches.
Defending Team India’s decision to boycott handshakes against Pakistan, captain Surya had said that it was a conscious call by the team to express solidarity with the Pahalgam terror attack victims in which Pakistani terrorists gunned down 25 Indian citizens.