This time, India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir was the centre of attention rather than the players or an official nominated by the ICC. On September 21, the India-Pakistan handshake issue took a new turn and didn’t go away even a week after it started.
Gambhir made an unexpected order after India defeated Pakistan in their Super Four match at the Dubai International Stadium. He asked Suryakumar Yadav and his teammates to only greet the match officials after the game, again ignoring the Pakistani players.
For the second time in a row, Suryakumar had also declined to shake hands with Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha at the toss, instead going straight to Ravi Shastri for a conversation before introducing himself to match referee Andy Pycroft.
The traditional handshake was once more omitted at the conclusion of the game. Without recognising their Pakistani rivals, Tilak Varma and Hardik Pandya, who took India home with seven balls remaining, went straight to the changing room.
Later, in a surprising turn of events, Gambhir was spotted telling the Indian players to return to the pitch to welcome the umpires. The opponent was clearly perplexed when the team approached the Pakistani players but stopped short, shaking hands only with the officials before heading back.
Here is a video of Gambhir requesting that Indian players shake hands with the umpires:
🗣️ Arey umpire se to mil loo!!
Gautam Gambhir invited the Indian players to exchange handshakes—but only with the umpires 😂pic.twitter.com/iBkdhye87j
— KKR Karavan (@KkrKaravan) September 21, 2025
After the match, Gambhir added fuel to the fire by sharing images of Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, and the rest of the Indian team on Instagram with the simple remark, “Fearless.” Gill (47) and Abhishek (74) put on a scorching 105-run partnership off 59 balls, relieving strain on the middle order and setting the tone for India’s chase of 172.
Looking ahead, Pakistan will play Sri Lanka in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, September 23, while India will play Bangladesh on Wednesday, September 24. While Pakistan needs to defeat Sri Lanka to maintain their hopes of qualifying, India would almost guarantee their spot in the final on September 28 in Dubai with a victory over Bangladesh. On September 20, Bangladesh shocked Sri Lanka with a four-wicket victory in the Super Four.
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