South Africa’s Simon Harmer and Kagiso Rabada shake hands with Pakistan players (AP Photo/KM Chaudary) Twice in just two days, Pakistan teams received handshakes and high fives from their opponents – something you don’t often see from a Pakistan team these days. First, the Indian men’s junior hockey team extended high fives and handshakes to their Pakistani counterparts after the match. Less than 24 hours later, the Pakistan cricket team inflicted a 93-run defeat on reigning world champions South Africa in the first Test in Lahore, ending the Proteas’ ten-match winning streak – and were once again greeted with handshakes. Still, the celebrations were tinged with lingering resentment. Broadcast commentators Ramiz Raja and Aamer Sohail used the moment to drag India back into the conversation and revisit the Asia Cup controversy of last month. During that tournament, Indian players refused to shake hands with their Pakistani counterparts on three separate occasions, sparking tensions that continued even after India secured a five-wicket victory in Dubai to claim their ninth Asia Cup title. Aamer Sohail commented, “It’s good to see both teams shaking hands. It’s going out of style these days.” Ramiz Raja added: “It’s getting out of hand”, before stressing cricket’s tradition of sportsmanship and the importance of “gentlemanship and fairness”, even taking a dig at South Africa in the process. On the field, Pakistan’s win was emphatic. Shaheen Afridi led the bowling effort with 4/33, while left-arm spinner Noman Ali finished with 4/79 to bowl South Africa out for 183. Earlier, Tony de Zorzi’s maiden Test century and Ryan Rickleton’s fifty pushed the Proteas to 269, still behind Pakistan’s first innings total of 378. Salman Agha and Imam Ul Haq scored 93 and narrowly missed out on hundreds, while Shan Masood and Mohammad Rizwan added crucial half-centuries. Pakistan’s second innings faltered at just 167, but Noman Ali once again tore through South Africa’s middle order to claim 6/112 to match Senuran Muthuswamy’s earlier haul of 6/117.
