Cricket’s ongoing handshake dispute took a new turn when Pakistani women’s captain Fatima Sana and India women’s captain Harmanpreet Kaur did not shake hands before the toss prior to Match No. 6 of the ICC Women’s World Cup 2025, which was played on October 5, 2025, at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.
Together with the presenter and match referee, both captains attended the toss. Discussions about the ongoing hostility between the two sides were rekindled when Fatima Sana, the winner of the toss, chatted with the presenter but neither captain shook hands or handed out team papers before departing the area.
The handshake problem between the Indian and Pakistani teams has been in the news a lot lately. Throughout the three meetings—in the group stage, Super Four, and final—the Indian men’s team did not shake hands with their Pakistani counterparts at the Asia Cup 2025.
Salman Ali Agha of Pakistan and Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav both skipped the traditional post-match handshake and toss time, drawing official protests and a lot of criticism.
The women’s game now seems to be following the same pattern, which highlights the increasing tension between the two cricketing nations off the pitch.
India substituted Renuka Singh Thakur for Amanjot Kaur in the actual match, while Pakistan made one change by adding Sadaf Shamas to the starting lineup. In the hopes that her team may take advantage of the circumstances early on and score two points, Fatima Sana chose to bowl first.
It appears that there may be some moisture on the wicket, so we will bowl first. We have one change: Omaima Sohail is replaced by Sadaf Shamas. We are really confident and should do better today. Sana stated during the toss that anything under 250 might make for a good pursuit.
Before the World Cup, we had a successful series here, Kaur remarked. We have an optimistic outlook and want to perform well. One bad development is that Renuka Thakur takes Amanjot’s position since she isn’t performing because she’s sick. We’ve bonded well as a team and are eager for the competition today.”
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