India again refuse handshake with Pakistan in Asia Cup

The two neighbours come into the key match of the regional tournament with tensions high after India angered Pakistan with a 'no handshake' stance in their previous meeting at the same venue in Dubai.

It was the first cricketing clash between the rival nations since a four-day cross-border conflict in May left more than 70 people dead.

Andy Pycroft will be match referee in spite of Pakistan lodging a protest with the International Cricket Council, alleging that the Zimbabwean had told Agha not to approach Suryakumar for a handshake.

The Pakistan Cricket Board demanded Pycroft be removed from their matches and threatened to withdraw from the eight-team T20 competition.

Because of fraught political ties, nuclear-armed neighbours India and Pakistan only meet at neutral venues during multi-team tournaments.

India come into the Super Four unbeaten with three wins in the group stage.

"Since first round we were thinking we're playing a knockout tournament, nothing changes," said Suryakumar.

Pakistan, who came second behind India with two wins and one defeat, cancelled their pre-match press conference, but Agha said "the mood is normal" within the camp.

Teams

India: Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Sanju Samson (wk), Suryakumar Yadav (capt), Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy

Pakistan: Saim Ayub, Sahibzada Farhan, Fakhar Zaman, Salman Agha (capt), Hussain Talat, Mohammad Haris (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed

Umpires: Ahmad Shah Pakteen (AFG), Gazi Sohel (BAN)

TV Umpire: Ruchira Palliyaguruge (SRI)

Match Referee: Andy Pycroft (ZIM)