Colombo: In line with expectations, India captain Harmanpreet Kaur did not shake hands with her Pakistan counterpart Fatima Sana during the toss for the Women’s World Cup match, continuing the pattern set by the men's team during the Asia Cup. The BCCI had instructed players to avoid the customary handshake with members of the Pakistani side.

The toss, conducted by Mel Jones, saw both captains maintaining distance during the ceremony. Pakistan won the toss and chose to field first.

India, boasting an 11-0 unbeaten record against Pakistan in ODIs, made a forced change to their playing XI with Renuka Singh replacing the injured Amanjot Kaur. Pakistan made a swap as well, bringing in Sadaf Shamas for Omaima Sohail.

This tension follows a similar atmosphere in the recent men’s Asia Cup, where all three India-Pakistan games were played in a hostile environment. Indian players avoided handshakes both before and after those matches. Furthermore, India declined to accept the Asia Cup trophy from ACC president Mohsin Naqvi, who is also the Pakistan Cricket Board chief and an interior minister with a strong anti-India political stance.

Relations between the two nations have been particularly strained after the Pahalgam terror attack, where 26 Indian tourists were killed by Pakistan-backed militants. India responded with a military operation named ‘Operation Sindoor’ aimed at dismantling terror networks across the border.

Teams:

Pakistan Women: Muneeba Ali, Sadaf Shamas, Sidra Amin, Rameen Shamim, Aliya Riaz, Sidra Nawaz (wk), Fatima Sana (c), Natalia Pervaiz, Diana Baig, Nashra Sandhu, Sadia Iqbal.

India Women: Pratika Rawal, Smriti Mandhana, Harleen Deol, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (wk), Sneh Rana, Renuka Singh Thakur, Kranti Gaud, Shree Charani.