Handshake row deepens; PCB chief Mohsin Naqvi warns of 'equal terms'

Pakistan Cricket Board president Mohsin Naqvi has made Pakistan’s presumption wide connected the contented of shaking hands with India during cricket matches. Ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup 2026, Naqvi said Pakistan volition not unit immoderate symbolic gestures if India are not consenting to instrumentality part.Speaking to the media successful Lahore, Naqvi said Pakistan has ever believed that cricket and authorities should beryllium kept separate.

He added that this presumption has not changed implicit clip and that the connection has travel from the highest level. According to him, Pakistan besides does not privation to beryllium treated otherwise oregon unfairly.“Our content remains the aforesaid adjacent today, and judge me, the Prime Minister himself has told maine doubly that we shouldn’t fto authorities travel into each of this.

From time one, our stance has been that cricket and authorities should stay separate. On that day, Sarfaraz indispensable person told you what benignant of cognition was shown, and what it was like,” Naqvi said.He further explained that Pakistan volition not importune connected shaking hands if India chooses not to. “If they don’t privation to shingle hands, past we person nary peculiar tendency to bash truthful either. Whatever happens, it volition hap connected an adjacent footing with India.

And you volition see, this attack volition proceed going forward. It’s not imaginable for them to bash 1 happening and for america to backmost down — that simply won’t happen.”The handshake contented betwixt India and Pakistan has been ongoing for immoderate time. Since the Pahalgam panic attack, players from some sides person avoided shaking hands successful respective tournaments. This was seen during the Men’s T20 Asia Cup, the Women’s Cricket World Cup, and the caller Under-19 Asia Cup.However, it each began during the Asia Cup 2025. After a lucifer betwixt India and Pakistan, Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav and his teammates refused to shingle hands with the Pakistan players. India said this was done arsenic a protestation aft the Pahalgam attack.