Pakistan cricketer Ahmed Shehzad took a swipe at Wasim Akram for embracing former India captain Rohit Sharma ahead of the marquee T20 World Cup 2026 clash between two teams in Colombo on Sunday (February 15), saying that the legendary pacer always finds a way to shake hands in situations where it’s required.

Notably, India skipper Suryakumar Yadav and his Pakistan counterpart Salman Ali Agha refrained from shaking hands with each other at the toss.

There was a lot of speculations on whether the arch-rivals would exchange pleasantries, especially after tempers flared during the Asia Cup last year. As it turned out, the no-handshake policy continued. In fact, the two captains didn't even exchange eye contact, and maintained distance.

However, Akram and Rohit didn’t show any signs of enmity and embraced each other ahead of the game.

“I don’t get it. When Pakistan threatened a boycott, they backed down, saying, ‘Play, play, we are losing billions.’ Fine, you want to play in that country. You don’t want to shake hands? Sanitise your hands, shake afterwards," former Pakistan seamer Mohammad Amir said while speaking on a Pakistani TV show.

“You won’t look bad. But this? I just don’t understand it," Amir added.

When the show host mentioned the interaction between Wasim and Rohit, Shehzad chipped in with, “Wasim bhai always finds a way to shake hands. He shakes hands wherever it’s necessary."

“Is this a criticism or do you think it’s good?" the host asked. To which, Shehzad replied, “No, it is a good thing. He has his own examples. Wherever you are, do what is appropriate. He explains this."

Coming to the match, India outplayed Pakistan in all facets of the game to win the contest by 61 runs at R.Premadasa Stadium and make it 8-1 against the traditional rivals in T20 World Cups.

Riding on Ishan Kishan’s swashbuckling 77 off just 40 balls, the defending champions racked up 175/7 on the board. Suryakumar Yadav (32 off 29), Shivam Dube (27 off 17), Tilak Varma (25 off 24) and Rinku Singh (11* of 4) also made handy contributions with the bat on a tacky wicket.

In reply, Pakistan’s innings folded for a mere 114 in 18 overs. Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel and Varun Chakaravarthy picked up two wickets each for India, while Kuldeep Yadav and Tilak returned with scalp apiece.

With this win, India sealed their place in the Super 8s. They will face Netherlands in the last group-stage fixture in Ahmedabad on February 18. On the other hand, Pakistan cannot afford any slip-up against Namibia if they want to qualify for the super eight phase of the tournament.