Suryakumar Yadav, Salman Agha skip customary handshake during toss for Indo-Pak Asia Cup game

Both the captains submitted their respective team sheets to the match referee Andy Pycroft from Zimbabwe, spoke with the TV commentator Ravi Shastri, who was conducting the coin toss, and headed back in their respective directions.

Dubai: India captain Suryakumar Yadav and his Pakistan counterpart Salman Agha did not engage in the customary handshake during the toss for their Group A contest in the Asia Cup on Sunday, drawing the attention of the cricket fraternity.

A handshake between captains of both teams during coin toss before matches in international cricket is a convention and not specified as a rule. On this occasion, both the leaders of Indian and Pakistan teams did not engage in one and also refused to make any eye contact.

Both the captains submitted their respective team sheets to the match referee Andy Pycroft from Zimbabwe, spoke with the TV commentator Ravi Shastri, who was conducting the toss, and headed back in their respective directions.

"Every tournament has its own set of rules and regulations. There are tournaments where protocol demands that one needs to shake hands at the toss. For the record, Suryakumar Yadav didn't shake hands with UAE skipper Muhammad Waseem during the last match's toss also," a BCCI source in know of things told PTI on the condition of anonymity.

It is for the first time that arch rivals India and Pakistan are facing off in a cricket match since the Pahalgam terror attacks earlier this year in April, which led to India launching retaliatory military action across the border in early May.

Last month, India announced a new sports policy under which its teams and athletes will not be allowed to engage in bilateral events with Pakistan, but can face them in multilateral international tournaments.

It also prohibited Indian athletes from travelling to Pakistan and refused to host teams and individual players from the neighbouring country.

In the lead up to this contest, the Indian camp maintained that the players were focussed on the game and were aware of the sentiments and emotions, which they had put behind them to approach the match professionally.

Both India and Pakistan won their respective opening matches of the tournament.