India vs. Pakistan never begins at the toss. The drama starts days earlier, and this time the noise came from an unexpected corner. Sanjay Manjrekar called India’s reported no-handshake stance “silly,” and within minutes the internet turned it into a full-blown debate. Many felt Sanjay had missed the emotional reality behind the decision.
Sanjay Manjrekar’s argument was simple. If two teams agree to play an ICC match, they should follow the traditional courtesies of the game. In his eyes, cricket cannot pick and choose which parts of its spirit to keep. That sounds reasonable in a studio discussion.
But India-Pakistan games do not live in a studio. They live in the hearts of fans, and that is where the reaction came from. Social media reminded Sanjay Manjrekar that this fixture carries history, politics, and public mood along with the bat and ball.
Check out Sanjay Manjrekar’s tweet
Interestingly, the captains handled the question with far more calm than the outside noise. On the eve of the match, Suryakumar Yadav smiled and deflected the question in his own relaxed style. “Wait for 24 hours, eat well, sleep, we have 24 hours, will take a call tomorrow,” he said.
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It was vintage Surya — light in tone but clear that the team had already made up its mind. Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha stayed diplomatic. He spoke about playing cricket in the right spirit and gently pushed the decision back to India’s side, making it clear he did not want to add fuel to the fire.
When the two captains walked out for the toss in Colombo, the suspense lasted only a few seconds. As predicted, there was no handshake. The moment was brief, but it said everything. It also closed the debate. India had taken a stand, and they were comfortable owning it. After that, the match moved to the only space that truly matters — the 22 yards.
How did the Twitterati react to Sanjay Manjrekar’s tweet:-
India played like a team that wanted to make a statement with the bat. The total of 175 for 7 was not just about runs; it was about control. Pakistan, in reply, never looked settled and collapsed for 114. The difference between the two sides felt massive.
Ishan Kishan turned the game into a one-sided show. His 70 off 40 balls came with intent, clean hitting, and zero fear. Ten fours, three sixes, and complete authority. In a high-pressure India-Pakistan game, that kind of innings tells you everything about a player’s mindset.
Ishan Kishan, who was named the Man of the Match, said, “100%. I think the wicket was not that easy in the beginning, but sometimes you just have to believe in what you want to play and what shots are on, and you have to just focus on your strength. So I was just keeping it simple and watching the ball and playing with the field, maybe trying to make them run as much as they can, but yeah, I think it worked pretty well on my side.”
When asked about the plan behind going for the off-side, he said, “I think I did work a lot on my off-side game, and it will give me the balls where I want them to bowl if I play good shots on off-side. So I was just trying to hit the gaps because it’s a big boundary, and when it’s a big ground, you get bigger gaps. So I was just trying to keep it simple, like I said, trying to hit the gaps, trying to at least take two runs because the wicket was not easy. I had in mind that we need to put in a total of like 160-170 runs, and it will be a very good total for us.”
