"Unintentional": BCB on no handshake after toss during IND vs BAN U19 World Cup match

India and Bangladesh captains did not shake hands at U19 World Cup [Source: jayanayak125]

The infamous handshake controversy between India and Pakistan from the Asia Cup was seen carried into the ICC U19 World Cup in Zimbabwe and Namibia as India faced Bangladesh in their second group stage fixture and captain Ayush Mhatre and Zawad Abrar did not shake hands at the toss.

The incident caught everyone's attention and soon faced backlash on social media channels, where fans and fraternity questioned the sportsman spirit in the game, feeling it was uncalled for to take the geopolitical tensions on the field. Responding to the critics, the Bangladesh Cricket Board went on to issue a clarification on the issue and termed it as mistake on Bangladesh's end.

BCB addresses the handshake-gate at the IND vs BAN U19 World Cup

Just hours after the incident started grabbing headlines on Saturday afternoon, BCB took to their media team and acknowledged the lapse in handshake between the captains and seemed to have taken the responsibility; however, called it an unintentional mistake from vice-captain Zawad Abrar, who represented the team at the toss in Azizul Hakim's absence.

"Due to illness, regular captain Azizul Hakim was unable to attend the toss, and vice-captain Zawad Abrar represented the team on the occasion. The BCB wishes to clarify that the absence of a handshake with the opposition captain was completely unintentional and resulted from a momentary lapse in concentration. There was no intent whatsoever to show discourtesy or disregard towards the opposition," read the official statement.

Additionally, the board has further made sure that they spoke to the team management and advised the players to uphold the spirit of cricket and maintain mutual respect and camaraderie with opposition teams, keeping the off-field matters aside.

BCB's strained relationship with India

Over the past couple of months, BCB and BCCI/India have had some issues amongst them, after Kolkata Knight Riders were asked to release star pacer Mustafizur Rahman from their squad ahead of the upcoming IPL season.

In the follow-up of the event, BCB has asked ICC to shift their T20 World Cup matches to Sri Lanka, who are co-hosting the competition, while the recently sacked director Nazmul Islam threatened to boycott the tournament — the comments were condemned by the players, who was a peaceful resolution of the conflict, keeping their financial positions in mind.

Bangladesh's promising start to U19 World Cup

While India is playing their second match of the competition, it is the opening fixture for Bangladesh in Bulawayo, as they aim for another title since their 2020 win over the Indians in the final.

After asking India to bat first in a rain-affected match, led by Al Fahad's 5/38 (9.2), they bundled India for just 238 runs, despite 72(67) for Vaibhav Suryavanshi and 80(112) for Abhigyan Kundu. Furthermore, they have started their run-chase well, with 90/2 on the board at the time of writing, when the match has been delayed due to rain.

As things stand, they are 149 runs away from opening their account on the points table and have 31.4 overs at their disposal.