To shake or not to shake hands?

With the Asia Cup cricket competition being held amidst extraordinary tensions between India and Pakistan a massive controversy during the tournament wasnrsquot exactly unexpected Handshakegate has occupied our mindspace as soon as it was reported that the Pakistanis didnrsquot appreciate India captain Suryakumar Yadavrsquos decision to do away with shaking the hands of his opponents after demolishing them in Dubai last SundayZimbabwean Andy Pycroft one of the least controversial of ICC match referees is one of the most despised men for the Pakistani team and their followers That Pycroft reportedly informed the Pakistan team that there wouldnrsquot be any handshakes makes one wonder what the fuss is all about Handshakegate has well and truly rocked the cricketing boat and hopefully the repercussions donrsquot lead into deep waterQueen Elizabeth II is introduced to Australian fast bowler Max Walker by captain Ian Chappell during the second Test against England at Lords Cricket Ground on July 31 1975 Walker had just applied a soothing lotion on his bowling fingers mdash which stuck to the Queenrsquos glove PicGetty ImagesThis particular controversy has given rise to arguments and counterarguments Opinion on Suryakumarrsquos act is divided Many support his stance call it patriotic Others feel once India agreed to be part of the Asia Cup despite the Pahalgam terror attacks the players must go through the match rituals however optional they areRefusal to shake hands is not unprecedented there have been similar occurrences Among others the Sri Lankan cricket team Englandrsquos 2003 skipper Nasser Hussain basketball great Isiah Thomas and Ian Chappell are examplesAustralian cricket greats Ian Chappell left and Dennis Lillee during the official launch of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 on July 30 2013 in Melbourne Chappell refused to shake Lilleersquos hand when the fast bowler indicated to him that he had enough of cricket in 197778 PicGetty ImagesLetrsquos start with Chappell involved in an incident that reflects determination At the end of the first season of World Series Cricket 197778 Australiarsquos premier fast bowler Dennis Lillee indicated to his captain Chappell that it was time for him to give up the game Chappell had seen what Lillee did to come out of a careerthreatening back injury in 1974 ldquoNow shake my handrdquo Lillee told Chappell as revealed by Chappell in the With the Greatest Respect podcast with David Evans ldquoI donrsquot shake the hands of medium pacers only fast bowlersrdquo replied Chappell Lillee punched his captain in the gut Lillee put his hand out again urging Chappell to shake it Chappell repeated what he said and got whacked again Chappell said he was better prepared for the third hit as he copped it again This time Lillee said hersquod be back next year and claim more wickets than anyone else in World Series Cricket And he did Lillee ended his career in 198384 as the man with the most Test wickets mdash a massive 355 scalps Would he have reached there without that handshake incident Who knowsMax Walker who played under Chappell from 197273 to 1975 before he was captained by Greg Chappell was part of the 1975 Ashes Test at Lordrsquos The team had to come out of the pavilion to meet and shake hands with the Queen Over to Walker who wrote about what happened next in his book Tangles his nickname ldquoJust before wersquod come out of the pavilion Irsquod decided that the spinning fingers were starting to get a little tender so I gave them a fairly lavish going over with Friarrsquos Balsam applied for blisters which is very brown rather smelly and inclined to be somewhat sticky until it is completely dry I didnrsquot give it another thought until the Queen was standing directly in front of me and the introductions were being made As she stuck out her impeccably gloveclad hand I had a split second of blind panic as I remembered that my right paw was half covered in brown goo and it was still tackyNasser Hussain who didnrsquot want to shake Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabersquos hand PicGetty ImaesldquoI donrsquot know whether she noticed my hesitancy but for a moment I debated the propriety and implications of refusing to shake hands In the end I figured that it wasnrsquot worth risking so as gingerly as I could I reached out and barely touched her palm As I started to withdraw my hand I felt the Queenrsquos glove coming along with itrdquoWalker ensured he had nothing on his hand when he met the Queen again during the 1977 Centenary Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground his beloved home turf At the same ground 19 years later in 1996 Arjuna Ranatungarsquos Sri Lankans refused to shake hands with the Australians after the hosts won the second triseries final Wicketkeeper Ian Healy had an argument with Ranatunga when the cramped visiting captain wanted a runner This was the same Australian summer when Muttiah Muralitharan was called for chucking ldquoWhen I headed over to shake hands with the Sri Lankan players afterwards they wouldnrsquot shakerdquo wrote Taylor The bitterness between both sides lingered but Dennis Lillee and Javed Miandad who were involved in an ugly incident in Perth during the 198182 series between Australia and Pakistan buried the proverbial hatchet quite quickly Lillee had kicked Miandad and the Pakistani captain threatened to strike him with his bat Miandadrsquos book Cutting Edge has a photograph of both players shaking hands Miandad even calling Lillee a friendHad England travelled to Zimbabwe for their 2003 World Cup fixture which they eventually forfeited there would have been a bigger controversy than there was when their skipper Hussain declared that he would not shake the hand of dictatorial Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe at the February 9March 23 ICC World Cup An English tabloid reported in January of that year that Hussain would be put in jail if he refuses to shake Mugabersquos hand Ultimately England didnrsquot go to Zimbabwe No match no incidentDetroit Pistons point guard Isiah Thomas in 1991 PicGetty ImagesRefusal to shake hands could lead to possible omission too as fans of Detroit Pistonsrsquo basketball legend Isiah Thomas would tell youOne of the finest point guards in basketball history was not part of Americarsquos Dream Team at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics where the NBApowered USA took home the gold medalThe rumoured reason for Thomas not being part of the starstudded roster that included Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson was because Thomas and his team walked off after the Eastern Conference finals choosing not to shake hands with victorious Jordanrsquos Chicago Bulls Jordan may tire from denying his role but controversies such as these never dieHandshakegate could suffer the same fate