A crucial match between India and Pakistan was held at the Wegner stadium in the Netherlands as part of the World Hockey Championship. For Pakistan, this was a decisive confrontation, as a loss meant automatic elimination from the tournament. India defeated its neighboring country with a score of 5:3, thereby excluding Pakistan from the race for the World Hockey Championship. However, the real discussion began after this event, concerning how patriotism and nationalism manifest in sports.
After the match, players from the Indian and Pakistani teams exchanged handshakes, adhering to standard protocols, and no one objected to this. It is worth noting that the rivalry between India and Pakistan in hockey is as long-standing and competitive as it is in cricket. Both teams have played each other many times since 'Operation Sindoor,' at senior, junior, and youth levels. In all these encounters, athletes have exchanged handshakes, hugged, and sometimes patted each other on the back, and neither side, including Hockey India, expressed dissatisfaction or questioned the teams' patriotism.
A natural question arises: why is only cricket criticized? Since 'Operation Sindoor' in May 2025, numerous matches have taken place between India and Pakistan in both cricket and hockey. In cricket, for example, during the Asia Cup in September 2025, Indian players avoided shaking hands with Pakistani players due to the political climate. The policy of 'no handshakes' in Indian cricket began when the team, led by Suryakumar Yadav, refused to shake hands with Salman Ali Agha. The Indian cricket team distanced itself from the traditional greeting with Pakistani players, demonstrating solidarity with the victims of the Pulwama attack.
A similar 'no handshake' policy was observed at the ICC Women's T20 World Cup in 2026, when India's captain Harmanpreet Kaur did not shake hands with Pakistan's captain Fatima Sana during the toss. Nevertheless, when these players compete for their clubs abroad, they do not exhibit such restraint. After a match in The Hundred League in England, a scene attracting the attention of the cricket world was captured: Indian star batter Jemimah Rodrigues warmly embraced Pakistani all-rounder Fatima Sana from Birmingham Phoenix.
Another example occurred on June 23, 2026, when a pro-league match took place between the Indian and Pakistani hockey teams in London, where exchanges of handshakes were also observed between players from both teams.
This once again raises the question of the essence of the problem. On one hand, we restrict bilateral series in cricket on each other's territory in response to the actions of the neighboring country. On the other hand, we have no issues participating in ICC events. The question arises: is the sensitivity we show towards cricket weakening in other sports? During India-Pakistan cricket matches, every movement of the players is assessed through the prism of nationalism: a handshake raises questions, refusal elicits praise, a smile sparks debate, and conversation leads to accusations of unpatriotic behavior. It creates the impression that the cricket field is turning into an arena for testing nationalism rather than a sporting ground. This same scrutiny is not applied to Indian and Pakistani players in hockey, kabaddi, or other sports, which makes the emergence of questions natural.
It is important to understand that rivalry and hostility are not the same thing. The essence of sport is to fight with all your might on the field, but after the competition ends, to respect the skill and efforts of the opponent. One player shaking hands with another does not diminish love for one's country, and refusing a handshake is not in itself the highest proof of patriotism. Therefore, the debate should not be about who shook hands, but whether we are making patriotism so narrow that there is no room for sportsmanship. If a hockey player shakes hands with a Pakistani opponent, he does not forget his national identity; similarly, a cricketer's refusal to shake hands cannot automatically be considered an act of patriotism.
The main question remains open: why is it specifically cricket that provokes such strong opposition?