By Aayush Kataria

Copyright timesnownews

After three consecutive Sundays off the India and Pakistan’s men teams facing each other in the 2025 Asia Cup, it will be the turn of the women’s team to face each other to make it four weeks in a row of the arch-rivals facing each other as the Women in Blue and Green go head-to-head in the 2025 ICC Women’s World Cup at Colombo’s R Premedasa on October 5. After the high tension that was observed in the three games between the men’s team, with the Pakistan players’ behaviour coming under the scanner as they were seen stopping low with their gestures, with Indian captain Suyakumar Yadav claiming they crossed the ine. The male team took a strong stance and refused handshakes with their Pakistani counterparts. Nor did Suryakumar shake hands with Salman Agha at the toss, while there were no customary handshakes between players at the end of the match. Meanwhile, Pakistan’s interior minister Mohsin Naqvi, who is also the head of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and Asian Cricket Council (ACC), did not let India lift the trophy after the Men in Blue made it clear, they would not receive it from him. The issue has further flared up the tension between the two countries. Will Indian Women’s Team Players Shake Hands With Pakistan Women’s Players? The question now is whether the Indian women’s and Pakistani women’s team players shake hands in the ongoing tournament, which is an ICC competition. All eyes will be on Harmanpreet Kaur and Fatima Sana when they walk out for the toss, and later, what happens after the match ends. BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia has dropped a major hint that the women’s team could follow the men’s team precedent while making a strong ‘hostile nation’ remark against Pakistan. “I cannot forecast anything, but our relationship with that particular hostile country is the same, there is no change in the last week. India will play that match against Pakistan in Colombo, and all cricket protocols will be followed. I can only assure that whatever is in the MCC regulations of cricket, that will be done. Whether there will be handshakes, whether there will be hugging, I cannot assure you of anything at this moment,” said Saikia in an interaction with BBC. Meanwhile, a report by the Indian Express has claimed that the BCCI has advised the Women team to not shake hands with Pakistan players. “The team won’t be shaking hands with the Pakistan team during the World Cup. The team has been informed by the BCCI bosses about this. The Indian board will stand by its players,” a BCCI souce was quoted saying by Indian Express. It is worth noting that shaking hands is only a customary gesture and not a rule that any team has to follow. Why Will India Travel To Colombo? While India is the host of the World Cup, the Pakistan team will not travel to India and play all their games in Colombo. This is as per an arrangment between the BCCI, PCB, and ICC ahead of the 2025 Champions Trophy, which stated that neither will India travel to Pakistan or vice-versa for an ICC event hosted by either country, and the tournaments will be played in a hybrid model. If Pakistan reach the semi-final and final, the clashes scheduled in Guwahati and Navi Mumbai, respectively, will also be shifted to Colombo.