Women’s World Cup: Is more rancour on the cards as India, Pakistan face off?

A India-Pakistan women’s cricket match, irrespective of the profile of the tournament, has never quite matched the hype of their men counterparts. This time, it could be different ahead of their league game of the ICC Women’s World Cup in Colombo on Sunday, albeit for wrong reasons.

 As the messy aftermath of the Men’s Asia Cup final continues to blow over, there is a strong buzz that the BCCI has issued an unwritten diktat for Harmanpreet Kaur & Co to not shake hands with the green shirts. Such a gesture will only be in sync with what the Men in Blue indulged in Dubai – for the benefit of optics – what with the Indian board’s decision to play Pakistan in the first place after the Operation Sindoor evoking strong sentiments across the country.

 While there has been no official position on the issue, one can surely read between the lines of what BCCI secretary Devojit Saikia told the media a few days back. ‘’I cannot forecast anything but our relationship with that particular hostile country is the same, there is no change in the last week,’’ Saikia told BBC.

 ‘’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 – the drift being quite clear.

 Well, it stands in contrast to Harmanpreet’s own take on the controversy during the virtual media session in the Captains’ Day last week. ‘’Well, we can only control one thing - which is playing cricket in the field and we are not thinking of other things. Because as cricketers, we can only control things that we have in our hand. But in other parts, I have zero control and I don’t even take those things into my mind. We don’t even discuss those things in the dressing room. We are only here to play cricket and our focus is only on cricket,’’ said the seasoned Indian captain.

 This was before the Men’s Asia Cup final and one quietly admired her stance – but then it’s not difficult to understand her compulsions should there be no handshakes, particularly after the way things have spiralled out of control in Dubai last Sunday. While one has to wait till the end of the high profile women’s game to assess the body language of both parties, it’s now clear that the Pakistan team will also be ready for a snub and be ready for a riposte which can only add fuel to the fire.

The BCCI secretary’s insistence that they will comply with ‘whatever is in the MCC regulations of cricket’ underlines that while a handshake at the toss or after the game had been a ritual in what’s perceived as a gentleman’s game, it’s not compulsory. The weaponization of victory in the Asia Cup, now that it has been endorsed by the powers that-be of both countries, it’s impossible to think about any change of tack so soon.

It’s unfortunate, to say the least, and once again questions the double standards vis-à-vis hosting cricket matches between these two countries. A visual from the T20 Women’s World Cup 2022 had been doing the rounds on social media for last few days – it shows the likes of Harmanpreet, Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Varma playing with Fatima, the infant daughter of Bismah Maroof, the then Pakistan skipper. Bismah was touring with a barely six-month old Fatima and the ICC famously shared a photo of the Indian team posing a selfie with Maroof and Fatima with a caption: ‘’Little Fatima’s first lesson in the spirit of cricket and Pakistan.’’

 Expecting such nicety, in the current climate, will be too much for sure!