Who: Pakistan vs. India
What: ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025
When: Sunday, October 5 at 09:30 GMT
Where: R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo, Sri Lanka
How to follow: Al Jazeera Sport will have live build-up from 06:30 GMT ahead of our text commentary stream.
In Colombo, India and Pakistan could face off in the ICC Women’s World Cup 2025 in response to persistent political unrest between the two neighbors of South Asia.
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The eagerly awaited group-stage match will likely be capped by questions about the infamous handshakes between the captains during the pre-match coin toss and the match’s conclusion, when both teams typically take the field back.
In all three of the tournament’s three matches, the Indian men’s teams and their captain did not shake hands with their Pakistani counterparts, which caused a backlash and furore that ruined the event when India and Pakistan’s men’s teams met in the Asia Cup in 2025.
A top official from the Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) has not rejected the use of a “no handshake” policy for the Women’s World Cup game.
I can’t promise you of anything, BCCI Secretary Devajit Saikia said on the BBC’s Stumped podcast, “whether there will be handshakes or huggings.”
Although I can’t say for sure, our relationship with that particular hostile nation is unbroken. The last week hasn’t changed much.
“Keep your eyes on the game.”
Both teams want to ignore the contentious build-up and concentrate on the game, despite the fact that cricket may seem to have been pushed into the background once more.
The World Cup is an event that every player attends, according to Pakistan’s captain Fatima Sana, who stated on Saturday, “We know what’s happening around us, but we try to stay focused on the game.”
When asked about the “outside noise,” Sana, whose team was comprehensively defeated by Bangladesh in their opening match, said Pakistan will “focus on the tournament and on what we have come here for.”
The players’ off-field interactions with Pakistan were so memorable that the game was praised by the fans that it was the last time India and Pakistan played each other at the Women’s World Cup.
Pakistan’s then-captain Bismah Maroof was surrounded by an Indian team’s fans as they sang aloud to her six-month-old daughter Fatima at the New Zealand 2022 tournament.
As players from the opposing countries bonded outside their dressing rooms after the game was over, jokes were exchanged, selfies were taken, and memories were made.
Sana, who made up the Pakistan squad in 2022, was questioned about how the players will miss the camaraderie and spirit of the previous three years.
Sana responded, “We try to keep healthy relationships with every team.”
What transpired with Bismah’s daughter when everyone mingled and enjoyed themselves? As gamers, we all enjoy these kinds of moments, but the key is to remain focused [on the game]?
The journalist was informed that India would not respond to the same query that was posed to Aavishankar Salvi, the country’s bowling coach.
Salvi did mention that India, which defeated Sri Lanka by 59 runs in their opening game, would also “focus on the cricket” on Sunday.
#CricketTwitter pic #Return to this stunning moment from the 2022 World Cup, which features Bismah Maroof’s daughter and Indian girls. https://twitter.com/PuxFEC5O1Y
The world will be watching, it’s said.
Because the World Cup is a long campaign and there will be many games in store for our girls, he said, “we want our girls to take it just as a game.”
“When you enter a major tournament, the only area of focus is cricket,” he said, adding that it’s beneficial to have the players in a good [head] space.
The event is anticipated to draw sizable audience, and the organizers anticipate a sizable crowd at the ground as well.
Sana, who also led Pakistan in their T20 World Cup 2024 encounter, acknowledged that the high-pressure match makes it “the whole world will be watching” for the match.
“There is pressure, but how we handle it is what matters most. We’ll try to keep our eyes on the prize, carry out our plans, and play as we’ve planned.
What transpired during the most recent women’s cricket match between India and Pakistan?
The last time the two teams met was in Dubai, where India won by six wickets in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024.
When did Pakistan last last defeat India in women’s cricket?
India has only lost to Pakistan three times, with the last time being against them on October 7 in the T20 Women’s Asia Cup 2022. The 13-run victory over Bangladesh was sealed by Nida Dar’s all-round performance.
Will Colombo experience rain during the India vs. Pakistan game?
In Khettarama, the area home to the R Premadasa Stadium in Sri Lanka’s capital, it is anticipated to experience rain on Sunday morning.
The weather will remain cloudy throughout the day, and there will also be some light showers coming in later in the evening. This could cause play to be delayed or interrupted.
Before Sri Lanka’s match against Australia at the same venue, there was a lot of rain on Saturday. The game was called off without any play as a result of the persistent rain.
Head-to-head encounter between India and Pakistan in women’s international matches
In women’s international matches, India leads their neighbors by 11-0. India has won all of its games by comfortable margins, including the 107-run victory in New Zealand’s ICC Women’s World Cup 2022.
Watch out for India
- Smriti Mandhana: Known as one of the best limited-over bowlers in modern women’s cricket, Mandhana has already broken the majority of women’s ODI records in the last two years. She led the format in runscoring in 2024 and is currently the top-ranked ODI batter by a distance. The Indian vice-captain has now scored four ODI centuries, which is the most by any player in the current year.
- Deepti Sharma, who has performed well against Pakistan in previous matches, poses an equal threat with bat and ball. Pakistan’s batters will be in great danger from Sharma’s right-arm off-break bowling. In India’s opening match of the World Cup against Sri Lanka on Tuesday, she took three wickets and scored 54 runs.
Watch out for Pakistan.
- Sidra Amin, a veteran batter, recently recorded her sixth ODI century-crushing performance against South Africa. She enters the crucial match against a strong Indian bowling line-up in good run-scoring form and is regarded as the mainstay of Pakistan’s batting attack.
- Nashra Sandhu, a seemingly unassuming slow left-arm bowler, has been Pakistan’s preferred option for spin in recent years, placing third in the world’s top ODI wicket-takers. In Pakistan’s nine ODIs in 2025, Sandhu took 16 wickets, six of which came against South Africa on September 22.
Formal instructions for India
India won both their home and away series titles in the opening match of the World Cup. Sri Lanka put them to the test in the opening match of the World Cup, but they won despite that defeat to start their successful campaign.
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Formal instructions for Pakistan
After defeating Bangladesh, Thailand, and the West Indies five times at home in the World Cup qualifiers, Pakistan’s form has deteriorated. They are now five games without defeat. Sana’s team lost their first World Cup match to South Africa at home, where they lost to South Africa, before suffering a dramatic batting collapse.
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India team news
For their second match of the tournament, India is expected to name an unchanged XI.
Pratika Rawal, Smriti Mandhana, Harleen Deol, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (wicketkeeper), Amanjot Kaur, Sneh Rana, Kranti Goud, and Shree Charani make up the predicted XI.
Pakistan team news
Pakistan’s XI will likely be the same as the Bangladesh XI, but Aroob Shah, a former All-Star, might be a better choice to replace Natalia Pervaiz.
Source: Aljazeera
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