India captain Suryakumar Yadav and his Pakistan counterpart Salman Agha did not shake hands at the coin toss for their T20 World Cup showdown in Colombo.

Agha won the toss on Sunday and elected to bowl in the Group A match, which was only confirmed as going ahead six days ago when the Pakistan government made a U-turn on a threat to boycott the match.

Suryakumar also did not shake hands with Agha in any of their three matches at the Asia Cup in Dubai last year, including the final.

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The biggest and most lucrative clash in world cricket was in doubt after Bangladesh refused to play their T20 World Cup matches in India and were kicked out, replaced by Scotland.

The Pakistan government protested and responded by ordering its team to boycott the India game in Sri Lanka, the tournament’s co-hosts.

The cricket teams of the nuclear-armed neighbours only meet in multi-nation tournaments at neutral venues as part of a compromise deal.

– AFP

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