The handshake question was asked twice and both times Suryakumar said it would be better to focus on the match first. “Wait for 24 hours, no,” he said with a big smile when the question was asked the first time. “Why are you [speculating] now? We have come here to play cricket, we’ll play good cricket. We will take the call [on handshake] later. Dine well, sleep.”
When asked to provide clarity, Suryakumar reiterated his previous comment. “I will break the suspense tomorrow. I just said wait for 24 hours, we will play a good game and then after the game… what is important tomorrow? The game is important.” When prodded that captains shake hands at the toss, he said, “We will see that at the toss.”
Earlier in the afternoon, Agha had echoed similar sentiments, though he said he expected both teams to play by the spirit of cricket in the aftermath of the handshake controversy during the 2025 Asia Cup. Suryakumar agreed there would be “pressure, nerves, butterflies in the stomach” on Sunday. “When you play an India-Pakistan game, it is more about the occasion. It is a platform. You can say what you want, like it’s just another game. But you know which game you are going to play. And we don’t play them often regularly.”
India have a dominating record against Pakistan both at World Cups as well as in the past few editions of the Asia Cup. In the 2025 Asia Cup, where India beat Pakistan three times, including the final, Suryakumar had said he did not believe there was a “rivalry” anymore between the teams. But on Saturday, when he was asked whether it was easier or if there was pressure to continue the domination against Pakistan, Suryakumar said the key was to start fresh.
“You have to start from zero,” he said. “What you did in the past, historically, you can’t carry that to the ground because then sometimes it can lead to complacency. You might go ahead of the game. If you want to be in control and want to keep a relaxed mind, then you have to always have a fresh start.
“So, personally, I feel that will be a better approach for us tomorrow – to treat it as a fresh game, a normal league game we have come to play in a T20 World Cup because then you stay fresh, take good calls and stay relaxed.”
The Indian captain also said he had watched Pakistan’s wins against Netherlands and USA and praised Agha’s team for playing “good cricket”. He also felt that while Pakistan might have a “little bit of advantage” playing all their matches in Colombo, it was not such a massive factor, especially since India have good experience of the conditions, having played at the Premadasa in the past.