India vs. Pakistan: ‘No handshake’ again – Harmanpreet Kaur, Fatima Sana shun usual Asia Cup toss gesture

ByTech Word News

Harmanpreet Kaur, Fatima Sana NEW DELHI: The no-handshake saga between India and Pakistan continued in women’s cricket as Harmanpreet Kaur and Fatima Sana again refrained from exchanging the customary gesture during the draw ahead of their Women’s Asia Cup 2026 clash in Dubai on Saturday.Pakistan captain Fatima Sana won the toss and elected to bat first, with the latest India-Pakistan encounter beginning with the now-familiar absence of a handshake between the two captains.The no-handshake stance has persisted in all India-Pakistan cricket encounters since last year, with the protocol also followed when the two sides met during the 2026 Women’s T20 World Cup in Birmingham.However, the focus quickly shifted to the contest itself, with Pakistan struggling to post a challenging total after opting to bat.“We will bat first as we want to give the maximum total here. (Did the last match affect this decision?) Yes, because we know we have a good bowling side, so we will try to limit them. (How did you deal with the batting swings?) We had a good chat with the team and we just want to play according to the pitch,” said Sana.

India is struggling to maintain dominance

India entered the competition in a strong position after winning their opening two matches against Thailand and Hong Kong, China to book their place in the semi-finals. Meanwhile, Pakistan opened their campaign with a win over Thailand and still have a group stage match against Hong Kong in China after their clash with India.India have also enjoyed a dominant recent record against their neighbors in T20Is, winning nine of their last 10 matches, with the only defeat in that stretch coming during the 2022 Asia Cup.Harmanpreet said India were happy to bowl first, boosting their bowling attack to restrict Pakistan to a manageable total.“Our bowling has been doing great in this tournament and it’s good to get the opportunity to bowl first. (How tough is the chase?) I think batting is always about taking a bit of time and then going for your shots. And I think the first two games we’ve done really well in that department and we hope to continue. (Leading after 150 in T20s is key to give it a try, that’s a key achievement, that’s great for me success. stick with it (What score would you like to chase?) We’ll try to keep it to a short total so there’s no pressure in the chase,” she said.

A historic milestone for Harmanpreet

The India captain also entered the record books on Saturday by becoming the first cricketer – male or female – to captain 150 T20Is.Harmanpreet’s landmark came in the same match in which India are looking to complete a perfect three wins from three in the group stage.Sri Lanka’s Chamari Athapaththu is second on the list with 121 caps as captain, followed by Australia’s Meg Lanning on 100.IND vs PAK Playing XIs:

  • India XI: Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Pratika Rawal, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Bharti Fulmali, Richa Ghosh (wk), Deepti Sharma, Prema Rawat, Nandani Sharma, Shree Charani, Kranti Gaud.
  • Pakistan