With the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 underway in India and Sri Lanka, the hosts, India Women will once again take the field on Sunday, October 5 in a highly-anticipated match against Pakistan Women.
The match is scheduled to be played at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. As the hype around the game hits the roof after recent events in the India vs Pakistan matches, what unfolds is the biggest talk.
As the Harmanpreet Kaur-led India Women will hope to extend their unbeaten streak over arch-rivals, the Women in Green will hope for a different result this time around. Seeing the series of incidents, Pakistan skipper Fatima Sana was asked of how she looks at the upcoming game seeing the tensed relations between the two neighbouring nations.
Focus is on the game: Fatima Sana ahead of IND vs PAK Women’s CWC 2025 match
Addressing the pre-match press conference in Colombo, Sana was asked how she looks at the game despite so many talks. To this she responded, “Obviously, our main goal is to play. When we come here, the focus is on the game. We try to maintain good relations with other teams, and whatever spirit of the game comes, we try to fulfill it.” Recalling the camaraderie which was seen last time, she added, “And obviously, previously, the way Bismah ma’am and Fatima enjoyed the mix-up, we as players liked it, but the first thing is to focus on why we are here.”
When asked about the outside noise which has been influenced by the ongoing strained relations, she added, “Absolutely, the first thing is, if we see ourselves, we are like a family — twenty or twenty-two people together. So our focus is not so much on what’s happening outside, obviously whatever happens, we notice in the surroundings.” “But the point is, our focus remains on the game, because obviously the World Cup is an event that every player waits for to come here. So we try that since we are here, we focus on what we came here for,” Fatima continued.
Pakistan Women's squad for ICC Women's Cricket World Cup 2025:
Fatima Sana (c), Muneeba Ali Siddiqui (vc), Aliya Riaz, Diana Baig, Eyman Fatima, Nashra Sundhu, Natalia Parvaiz, Omaima Sohail, Rameen Shamim, Sadaf Shamas, Sadia Iqbal, Shawaal Zulfiqar, Sidra Amin, Sidra Nawaz, Syeda Aroob Shah.
Reserves: Gull Feroza, Najiha Alvi, Tuba Hassan, Umm-e-Hani, Waheeda Akhtar
