India captain Harmanpreet Kaur and Pakistan counterpart Fatima Sana skipped the customary handshake before a women’s cricket World Cup match on Sunday amid ongoing tensions between the rivals that plagued the men’s Asia Cup last month.
India-Pakistan relations have significantly deteriorated following military conflicts in May that nearly escalated into a full-fledged war between the nuclear-armed neighbors.
India beat Pakistan three times in the men’s Asia Cup, including in the September 28 final in Dubai, but refused to shake hands with their counterparts before or after the matches.
They also declined to receive the winners’ trophy from Asian Cricket Council (ACC) president Mohsin Naqvi, who is Pakistan’s interior minister.
The frosty relations were evident in Colombo too where Kaur and Sana did not shake hands at the toss, nearly ignoring each other’s presence.
Sana won the toss and elected to field against India, who have never lost to Pakistan in a women’s one day international.
India won a tri-series in Sri Lanka, also involving South Africa, in May and captain Kaur said that experience would stand them in good stead.
“It was a good series for us,” Kaur said.
“We played a lot of cricket here and, yeah, we have experience. Now it’s only about staying positive and playing good cricket.”
Bilateral cricket remains suspended between India and Pakistan, who play each other only in multi-team events at neutral venues.
India are the hosts of the ongoing women’s World Cup but Pakistan will be playing all their matches in Colombo under an agreement approved by the International Cricket Council.
