Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: India and Pakistan captains once again skipped the customary handshake at the toss during their Super Six Group 2 encounter at the ICC Under-19 World Cup 2026 on Sunday. India Under-19 skipper Ayush Mhatre and Pakistan captain Farhan Yousaf completed the toss proceedings without exchanging the traditional greeting.The absence of a handshake during India-Pakistan tosses has increasingly become a familiar sight since India’s T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav declined to shake hands with his Pakistan counterpart at the 2025 Asia Cup, amid rising political tensions between the two nations. The pattern continued when India A avoided the handshake with Pakistan Shaheens during the Asia Cup Rising Stars 2025 match, and the same scenario played out again in the Under-19 World Cup clash.
In the match, Pakistan Under-19 won the toss and elected to bowl first in what is a decisive Super Six Group 2 fixture. With this being the final group-stage game, both teams entered the contest needing a win to keep their semi-final hopes alive, making it a must-win encounter for the Asian rivals.Australia and Afghanistan have already sealed semi-final berths from Super Six Group 1, while England have progressed from Super Six Group 2.With England safely through, only one semi-final spot remains available from Group 2. India are placed second with three wins from three matches and a net run rate of +3.337, while Pakistan occupy third spot with two victories from three games and an NRR of +1.484. A Pakistan win would draw them level with India on six points, but they would still require a substantial margin to overtake India’s superior net run rate. For the Ayush Mhatre-led India, a victory would be enough to secure qualification. India also remain unbeaten in the tournament.India vs Pakistan Under-19 match playing 11s:India U-19 playing 11: Aaron George, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Ayush Mhatre(c), Vihaan Malhotra, Abhigyan Kundu(w), Vedant Trivedi, RS Ambrish, Kanishk Chouhan, Khilan Patel, Henil Patel, Deepesh Devendran.Pakistan U-19 playing 11: Hamza Zahoor(w), Sameer Minhas, Usman Khan, Ahmed Hussain, Farhan Yousaf(c), Huzaifa Ahsan, Ali Hassan Baloch, Abdul Subhan, Momin Qamar, Mohammad Sayyam, Ali Raza.
