Team India will be locking horns against Pakistan in their second match of the ongoing ICC Women's World Cup 2025 at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Sunday, October 5.
India are clear favorites against Pakistan on Sunday (Pic: AFP)
Team India will be locking horns against Pakistan in their second match of the ongoing ICC Women's World Cup 2025 at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Sunday, October 5. The two teams have had contrasting starts to their respective ICC Women's World Cup campaigns and on paper, this seems to be a lopsided contest.
After being in a spot of bother initially, Deepti Sharma and Amanjot Kaur's 103-run partnership got India to a competitive score against Sri Lanka and the hosts ended up victorious by 58 runs in a rain-curtailed encounter. Pakistan, on the other hand, have had a horrible start to their campaign, having been bundled out against Bangladesh for just 129 and losing the game comprehensively by seven wickets.
When the head-to-head record between both India and Pakistan is observed, it probably wouldn't be fair to call them 'arch rivals'. Out of the 27 international games played between India and Pakistan, India have won 24 and lost just three, with Pakistan winning each of those three in the T20I format. In ODIs, the Women in Blue have a magnanimous record, winning all 11 games against Pakistan so far. So it is safe to say that Harmanpreet Kaur and co. will be overwhelming favorites when they will take the field against Pakistan.
There is a political backdrop too for this game as the Indian team have been reportedly informed to not shake hands with the Pakistan counterparts, just like the men's team followed during the 2025 Asia Cup. It will be interesting to see if this escalates the tensions between the two teams and leads to some on-field drama.
India will know that while their batting faltered against Sri Lanka, they can take advantage of Pakistan's weaker batting performance against Bangladesh and try and boost their net run rate with a big win. The surface in Colombo offered a lot of seam movement and that means Renuka Singh Thakur can make a comeback into the Indian team.
India squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (captain), Smriti Mandhana (vice captain), Pratika Rawal, Harleen Deol, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh, Uma Chetry, Renuka Singh Thakur, Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, Sree Charani, Radha Yadav, Amanjot Kaur, Arundhati Reddy, Kranti Gaud.
Pakistan squad: Fatima Sana (captain), Muneeba Ali Siddiqui (vice captain), 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.
(With PTI Inputs)
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