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Suryakumar Yadav and Harmanpreet Kaur (Source: AFP)
Former Indian cricketer Saba Karim has made strong comments on the much-anticipated India and Pakistan clash in the ongoing 2025 ICC Women’s ODI World Cup. It would be not wrong to say that, this fixture would be one of the much-eagerly awaited encounter of the prestigious tournament.
Karim stated that the real challenge for Harmanpreet Kaur’s team lies not against 'Women In Green'. But their real challenge is facing the tournament’s top contenders.
Harmanpreet will follow Suryakumar’s footsteps
In a interaction with the official broadcasters, Saba Karim also addressed the growing speculation around whether the women’s team would follow the footsteps of the men’s squad, who notably avoided post-match handshakes with Pakistan players during the recent Asia Cup 2025.
"I don’t think they will shake hands with the Pakistani cricketers. The BCCI’s stance is quite clear, and I believe the women’s team will behave similarly to the men’s. "Initially, there may be some polite interactions, but once the match begins, all focus will shift to cricket." said Karim.
With political tensions increasing with each passing day between India and Pakistan, according to the reports, the BCCI has instructed the ' Women in Blue' to avoid handshakes and just focus on cricket.
The former cricketer also added that India should and will be looking ahead to stiffer competition.
"No, not at all. I think the toughest clash for India would be against the top teams, mainly Australia, England, South Africa and New Zealand. Pakistan has come through the qualifiers. Based on what I’ve seen, especially when they’re up against a team like India, I don’t think India would really be concerned about them at this stage." said the former cricketer.
India recently registered a comprehensive 59-run win over Sri Lanka and are poised to further improve their net run rate with a clinical performance against Pakistan, who themselves are coming off a seven-wicket loss to Bangladesh.
