COLOMBO: And, so, on the ninth day and after 26 matches, the World Cup's big match — world cricket's big match not for entertainment or action but purely for the toxicity this game seems to generate these days — arrived at a suitably decked up R Premadasa Stadium. The thousands who had made their way past the turnstiles had begun queuing up a good four hours before the first ball was going to be bowled.
And before a ball was bowled in anger, more drama arrived in the form of the Indian captain's refusal to shake hands with Salman Agha, the Pakistan captain, at the toss. Agha won the toss and opted to bowl first. India made two changes with Abhishek Sharma and Kuldeep Yadav coming in for Arshdeep Singh and Sanju Samson.
On Saturday, Suryakumar Yadav had urged the media to 'wait for 24 hours'. And he continued the now established tradition that they had begun at the Asia Cup in September. Since then, multiple Indian teams have refused to engage with their Pakistan counterparts at the toss for reasons best known to the cricketers. When the men's team first refused to shake hands with Pakistan in Dubai, Yadav had said: "Few things in life are ahead of sportsman spirit."
While shaking hands with the opposition isn't mandatory, it's considered basic etiquette in the field of play before and after play. At some point, the Indian government or the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will have to air their official policy towards shaking hands.
In an individual sport, it's up to the players, especially tennis players as they are, strictly speaking, independent contractors. In a team sport like cricket, the players are, strictly speaking, representing the country. While whoever comes for the post-match press conference will be asked about the no handshake policy, that question really ought to be put to elected officials.
When Agha had been asked about the handshake row at the pre-match press conference, all he said was: "I expect the game should be played in the spirit that it has always been played since inception."
This wasn't an exhibition of that.