The biggest news of the ongoing T20 World Cup 2026 was unfortunately not about any on-field action. Instead, it was about the 'go ahead' from the Pakistan government regarding the India-Pakistan match scheduled for February 15 in Colombo. The decision came late on Monday (February 9), a day after Pakistan Cricket Board officials met their senior International Cricket Council counterparts in Lahore.
The Pakistan government's U-turn came eight days after it had made an announcement, instructing the men's senior cricket team to boycott their match against India in the T20 World Cup. After eight days of hide-and-seek, the U-turn eventually happened, although it wasn't unexpected due to the consequences that were looming on Pakistan.
Nevertheless, what matters for the T20 World Cup is that the marquee clash is indeed happening and there is a big twist on the cards. According to internal sources, we might well see handshakes being exchanged between the Indian players and their Pakistani counterparts in Colombo on matchday. There isn't any official confirmation yet, but the possibility of this appears to be high.
For those unaware, India had adopted a 'no handshake' policy with Pakistan since the start of the 2025 Asia Cup. While it was started by the men's team during that tournament, it has been the norm thereafter across the women's game and under-age cricket till now. This stance from India was after the Pahalgam attacks in April 2025 - the incident that escalated the already strained India-Pakistan relations.
The cricketing world has been polarised in its reactions to India's 'no handshake' stance with many renowned personalities finding it against the spirit of the game. In fact, many have even asked India to forfeit a game if they care about taking a stance. All these are subjective decisions, but whether the handshakes return to India-Pakistan matches will be known on February 15.