Will India be forced to shake hands with Pakistan in Super Four? Former international umpire answers

As anticipation builds for the upcoming India vs Pakistan clash in the Super Four stage on September 21, former international umpire Anil Chaudhary has added a new dimension to the much-discussed post-match handshake protocol between the two cricketing giants.

What happened?

Anil Chaudhary, the former international umpire from India, recently shared an Instagram reel that sparked widespread interest as he clarified that there are no official rules in cricket requiring teams to shake hands after a match, addressing speculation arising from the Indian team's decision not to shake hands with Pakistan in a previous encounter.

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Chaudhary has deep insights into cricket’s governing regulations, emphasized that the post-match handshake is more of a traditional gesture rather than a mandated rule. According to him, the gesture is often seen as a mark of sportsmanship and mutual respect, but it is not enforced by the International Cricket Council (ICC) or any cricket board.

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While mentioning if the ICC would compel the Indian team to shake hands with Pakistan in the upcoming Super Four match, Chaudhary remained practical, stating that "No cricket authority has officially made it compulsory for teams to shake hands post-match. It’s a matter of team management and individual players' willingness to participate in such gestures."

Now, after Indian players decided not to shake hands in their first meeting of the Asia Cup, where India won convincingly, Pakistan asked ICC for the removal of match referee Andy Pycroft from their matches in the Asia Cup. But the International Cricket Council (ICC) did not agree to that, and Andy remained as the match referee for their match against the UAE.

Not only that, the Pakistan Cricket Board threatened ACC and ICC that they would not play their match against the UAE, and eventually the match started one hour later than the regular time. Although PCB stated that Andy had apologized to them for the handshake incident, later reports suggested that ICC was not happy with PCB’s misconduct ahead of their match against the UAE.

So, after Anil Chaudhary’s post, it is clear whether India wants to shake hands or not; no rule can force them to do that.