India and Pakistan cricket captains skip handshake at Asian Games final amid ongoing tensions

Sahibzada Farhan, Shreyas Iyer

Indian skipper Shreyas Iyer and Pakistan captain Sahibzada Farhan did not shake hands at the toss ahead of the men's cricket final at the Asian Games in Japan on Saturday, continuing the no-handshake practice seen between the two teams since last year's Asia Cup. The two captains came out for the toss before the gold-medal clash, but live visuals showed no handshake between Iyer and Farhan. India won the toss and elected to bat.Asian Games Full Coverage | Schedule | Medal Tally India have also retained the same XI that featured in their previous match, with 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi continuing at the top of the order alongside Abhishek Sharma. The no-handshake practice has continued since the Asia Cup in September last year. It comes against the backdrop of cross-border tensions and military developments between India and Pakistan, including Operation Sindoor. Since then, Indian cricket teams have followed a no-handshake approach in recent fixtures against Pakistan in ICC and ACC tournaments.

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Saturday's final is the first men's cricket meeting between India and Pakistan at the Asian Games, with the gold medal at stake in Nisshin. The Indian women's cricket team also won gold at the Asian Games by defeating Sri Lanka in the final.

Teams:Pakistan (Playing XI): Sahibzada Farhan(c), Maaz Sadaqat, Usman Khan(w), Saim Ayub, Hasan Nawaz, Abdul Samad, Arafat Minhas, Ahmed Daniyal, Saad Masood, Abrar Ahmed, Sufyan Moqim

India (Playing XI): Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson(w), Shreyas Iyer(c), Ishan Kishan, Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah

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