Bangladesh captain’s Harmanpreet Kaur handshake snub gets no BCB backing: ‘It was her own decision’

Bangladesh captain Nigar Sultana refused to shake hands with India counterpart Harmanpreet Kaur after the toss during their Women’s Asia Cup 2026 semi-final in Dubai. The reason remains unclear, with the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) distancing itself from the incident and saying it was her own decision.

Since September last year, India and Pakistan cricketers have refused to shake hands, amid heightened political tensions between the two countries following the Pahalgam terror attack. But, seemingly unexpectedly, Sultana did the same against India in the semi-final last Thursday.

“Of course, it was her own decision (not to shake hands with Harmanpreet),” said Rafiqul Islam Babu, Bangladesh Cricket Board’s women’s committee chairman. “We believe sports bring the world together. We want friendly relations with all countries, not just India, and so whatever she did was entirely her personal decision.”

Bangladesh lost the match by 40 runs after failing to chase down 150. It was their second straight semi-final exit in the continental championship after they won the title in 2018.

Sultana has yet to comment on the handshake row. Her future as Bangladesh captain, meanwhile, is also under scrutiny, with Babu indicating that the board will assess the situation after the Asian Games campaign following complaints about her conduct.

“We have discussed the thing (performance and complaint) in total with the board president, and since they are in the Asian Games, we will assess the situation after the conclusion of the games.

“First, we will see how the team performs at the Asian Games, then decide what needs to be done,” Babu said.

“There are many shortcomings in the team. We have not been able to beat the bigger teams. We played well in the World Cup too but lost because of small mistakes. We are working to make the team stronger and more competitive. After the Asian Games we will decide what can be done,” he concluded.