New Delhi, Oct. 31 -- At a time when the Indian cricket teams (men and women) chose not to shake hands with their Pakistani counterparts in honour of the Pahalgam terror attacks (that killed 26 innocent lives on April 22), everyone expected the Indian junior hockey team to follow the same routine in the recently-concluded Sultan of Johor Cup 2025 in Malaysia.

Handshakes in sports are usually meant as a gesture for maintaining sportsman spirit between the rivals on the field, courts, etc. But the recent India-Pakistan border conflict has made handshakes a point of political debate. On October 14, the likes of Gurjot Singh, Manmeet Singh, Sourabh Anand Kushwaha, Ankit Pal, Roshan Kujur shattered that narrative.

Instead, the Indian players...