Women’s World Cup: India captain skips customary handshake with Pakistan skipper

The spirit of the game was once again tested at the toss ceremony of the Pakistan-India ICC Women's Cricket World Cup 2025 match on Sunday, as the captains did not exchange the customary handshake at the R. Premadasa Stadium.

Pakistan, having won the toss, chose to field first, but the tense moment at the toss reflected broader tensions between the two nations beyond the boundary lines.

The lack of a handshake between Pakistan skipper Fatima Sana and India's Harmanpreet Kaur comes after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Secretary Devajit Saikia said that the policy about Pakistan will remain unchanged in their upcoming clash in the ICC Women's World Cup 2025.

In an interview with BBC, the BCCI secretary stated that there was no assurance that Indian players would shake hands with their Pakistani counterparts during their upcoming game in Colombo on October 5.

"I cannot forecast anything, but our relationship with that country [Pakistan] is the same; there is no change in the last week," said Saikia.

The handshake snub today only adds to the situation which emerged after India's controversial and widely condemned conduct during the recently concluded Asia Cup 2025, where the men's team refused to shake hands with Pakistan players and made political statements during post-match ceremonies and press conferences.

India also refused to collect the winners' trophy from Asian Cricket Council (ACC) President Mohsin Naqvi, who also serves as the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

Lineups

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

India: 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.