Handshake snub echoes Ind-Pak divide, but Gulf cricket squads show another reality

While one of the world’s fiercest rivalries continues to be defined by cold shoulders, elsewhere in the cricketing world, a different story unfolds on the field.

Players with roots in both countries are quietly demonstrating what it means to leave the historical baggage behind.

Diverse UAE squad

In the Asia Cup, the national squads of Oman and the United Arab Emirates offer a compelling contrast. Their squads are built on a mix of expatriate talent, many of them of Indian and Pakistani origin, who not only share dressing rooms but also celebrate each other’s successes on the field.

The UAE cricket team mirrors the country’s migrant character. Gulf teams rely on long-term expatriates. Players must hold permanent residency to qualify, since these countries do not grant citizenship to foreigners.

Captain Muhammad Waseem, a powerful opener from Pakistan, shares the squad with Haider Ali, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Matiullah Khan, and Junaid Siddique, all with Pakistani backgrounds.

However, the team also includes Indian-origin players such as Rahul Chopra, Harshit Kaushik, Dhruv Parashar, Ethan D’Souza, Alishan Sharafu, Aryansh Sharma, and Simranjeet Singh. Along with them, there are a few cricketers whose families hail from elsewhere in South Asia, and the UAE team becomes a true melting pot.

Also read: Ind vs Pak handshake row: Let us not demonise Pakistanis in the name of jingoism

Take Alishan Sharafu, the young opener from Kerala who grew up in Dubai. He described mixed emotions when facing Bumrah and company: “It felt like a dream to play against your own country while representing another.”

Unlike other international teams with naturalised foreign citizens, Rahul Chopra, one of the squad’s wicketkeepers, is often seen strategising with Waseem or Asif Khan, while Alishan Sharafu teams up with bowlers like Muhammad Jawadullah. In this team, it doesn’t matter who grew up celebrating Diwali or Eid back home, what matters is the colours of the UAE jersey.

From both sides of border

Oman team paints a similar picture. Its squad features players whose families trace their origins to both sides of the India-Pakistan border. Wasim Ali, Shah Faisal, Muhammed Imran, Zikria Islam, Aamir Kaleem, Sufyan Mehmood, and Mohammad Nadeem all have links to Pakistan.

Captain Jatinder Singh, born in Ludhiana, Punjab, embodies this dual heritage most vividly. Batting alongside teammates like Hassnain Shah or Shakeel Ahmed, he leads a team where national identity is defined less by ancestry and more by commitment to Omani colours.

Interestingly, he is not a full-time cricketing professional like many of his teammates, and has been working in the administration department of a corporate firm in Muscat, while balancing his professional duties with his cricketing career since 2011.

Names like Ashish Odedara, Jiten Ramanandi, Samay Shrivastava, Vinayak Shukla, and Karan Sonavale show the spread of Indian-origin talent in the side, while the presence of players like Hammad Mirza and Sufyan Yousuf highlights the Pakistani contribution.

Together, they create a line-up where Urdu and Hindi mingle easily in the dressing room, and where the boundaries of countries blur once the whites are on. For these players, Oman is not just an adopted country, it is home, the place where their cricketing dreams took root.

A different reality

When India and Pakistan face off, the narrative is almost always political before it is sporting. Every gesture, a smile, a sledge, or a handshake is scrutinised for symbolism. In contrast, in Dubai and Muscat, players with the same ethnic roots represent a different reality: shared meals, shared hotels, shared targets on the field.

Also read: Opinion India thrashes Pakistan but unshaken hand echoes loudest

The irony is unavoidable. In one part of the cricketing world, two teams embody a rivalry that is as much about borders as it is about bat and ball. In another, two national teams are thriving because those borders lose meaning.

This phenomenon cannot be separated from the history of migration.

Gulf countries like the UAE and Oman are home to millions of South Asian expatriates, who arrived decades ago as workers, professionals, and entrepreneurs. Their children picked up cricket in academies and school grounds, slowly rising into the national setups.

For many of these players, their selection is not about nostalgia for India or Pakistan but about honouring the country where they grew up. A player like Aryansh Sharma, for instance, may be of Indian origin, but his cricketing education came entirely in the UAE. Likewise, an Omani veteran such as Aamir Kaleem may have been born in Pakistan, but his career and loyalty are tied to Muscat.

In the Gulf, the sport has become less about “us versus them” and more about “all of us together”. Whether it is Vinayak Shukla padding up alongside Hassnain Shah in Oman, or Muhammad Waseem and Rahul Chopra opening training drills in Dubai, the stories of coexistence are many.

So, while headlines may continue to focus on handshake dramas and diplomatic stand-offs, the quieter reality in the Gulf tells another story.