During the Women's World Cup 2025 match, India captain Harmanpreet Kaur and Pakistan skipper Fatima Sana avoided a handshake at the toss, continuing the trend set by the Indian men's team, who skipped handshakes with Pakistan at the Asia Cup 2025.
Team India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur and Pakistan captain Fatima Sana avoid a handshake at the toss ahead of the Women's ODI World Cup 2025 match at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Sunday, October 5. The two arch-rivals are facing off for the first time since the group stage encounter at the T20 World Cup last year.
India and Pakistan have locked horns 11 times in the Women’s ODIs, and the Women in Blue have won on every occasion, underlining their dominance over arch-rivals in the shorter format of the game. In the Women’s ODI World Cup, the two met four times, and against Team India, Pakistan has yet to register a victory, highlighting India’s unbroken winning streak in the tournament.
The last time India and Pakistan locked horns in the Women’s ODI was in the group stage of the World Cup in 2022, where the Women in Blue defeated the arch-rivals by 107 runs at Seddon Park in Hamilton, continuing their perfect record against Pakistan in the World Cup encounters.
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Harmanpreet Kaur follows Men in Blue’s Precedent
Team India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur followed the precedent set by Suryakumar Yadav-led Men in Blue, who refused to engage or shake hands with their arch-rivals at the recently concluded Asia Cup 2025.
Ahead of the much-anticipated clash of the Women's World Cup 2025, the major question remained whether the teams would shake hands or continue the recent trend of avoiding the gesture. The BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia gave no ‘assurance’ of whether India would engage in such gestures, while reaffirming that the relationship with the rival nation will remain unchanged.
At the toss, India captain Harmanpreet Kaur tossed the coin, and Pakistan captain Fatima Sana won it and opted to bowl first. However, the two did not exchange handshakes, as Harmanpreet stepped aside and maintained distance, following the precedent set by the recent Men in Blue in the Asia Cup 2025.
The relationship between India and Pakistan strained after the Pahalgam terror attack, killing 26 tourists by militants, and subsequent Operation Sindoor, which was successfully carried out by the Indian Defence Forces, targeting terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir.
Though the two nations will not engage in bilateral series, they will play in the multi-nation tournaments despite the boycott calls for any sporting engagement with the rival nation in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack.
India look to extend dominance over Pakistan
As Team India and Pakistan renewed their rivalry in the Women’s ODIs as well as the World Cup, the Women in Blue will look to extend their dominance and maintain their unbeaten streak over arch-rivals in the ongoing Women’s ODI World Cup 2025 match.
Having not lost a single match in Women’s ODI cricket against Pakistan, Team India will aim to continue their perfect record and assert their superiority in the high-stakes World Cup encounter. India had an ideal start to their quest for the maiden World Cup title with a 59-run win over Sri Lanka in the tournament opener, and Pakistan, on the other hand, lost to Bangladesh by seven wickets in their opening match.
India and Pakistan have once again clashed, with the Women in Blue aiming to maintain their unbeaten record, while Pakistan eye the first-ever win over Team India in the history of Women’s ODI cricket.
Squads
India: Pratika Rawal, Smriti Mandhana (VC), Harleen Deol, Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh(w), Sneh Rana, Renuka Singh Thakur, Kranti Gaud, Shree Charani.
Pakistan: Muneeba Ali, Sadaf Shamas, Sidra Amin, Rameen Shamim, Aliya Riaz, Sidra Nawaz(w), Fatima Sana (C), Natalia Pervaiz, Diana Baig, Nashra Sandhu, Sadia Iqbal.
