CRICKET UNDER TENSION – can politics be put aside for India v Pakistan?

Political tensions between India and Pakistan mean more people are talking about whether the teams will shake hands when they meet at the Women’s World Cup on Sunday than the actual cricket, Clare McEwen talks us through both before India v Pakistan begins.

As much as we’d like to focus on the positivity of women’s sport here at The New Women’s Sport Magazine, it’s impossible to ignore the looming cloud of politics over the India v Pakistan game on Sunday 5th October. Men’s cricket has recently been marred by the tensions and all eyes are on whether this will be different with the women.

The recent men’s Asia Cup finished with tensions high between the two countries. The teams met three times during the tournament, playing with the backdrop of the recent conflict between the countries. In the first game, the Pakistan coach said India refused to shake hands during the match and after the final, India refused to accept the trophy from the Asian Cricket Council president because he’s also the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board.

Due to the tensions, the women’s world cup match will be played outside of India and in Colombo, Sri Lanka. In fact, all Pakistan’s games will be played there to reduce tensions as much as possible. We will all have to wait and see whether the hostility continues or whether handshakes ease some of the tension. On to the cricket.

Current form

India comfortably beat Sri Lanka on the opening day but would have been expecting more runs from talisman Smriti Mandhana and a more stable middle-order. Some superb bowling from Amanjot Kaur and Deepti Sharma turned it around for India despite good resistance from Sri Lanka.

Pakistan, on the other hand, couldn’t get started in their opening game and were demolished by Bangladesh. Wickets fell at an alarming rate for Pakistan and they were all out for 129. Bangladesh smashed past their total for the loss of only three wickets.

Players to watch

Although India’s talismanic batter Smriti Mandhana didn’t hit her best form in their opener against Sri Lanka, there were enough decent batting displays to cobble together a score in the rain-interrupted match. Fifties for two of the all-rounders, Deepti Sharma and Amanjot Kaur, helped build a score before an impressive bowling display from Deepti rounded off an excellent opener for her. Despite Pakistan having a terrible game against Bangladesh, they’ll take some comfort from all-rounder Fatima Sana’s contribution with bat and ball and she remains their player to watch.

Prediction

Even without a contribution from number one ODI batter, Smriti, India beat Sri Lanka comfortably. After a batting collapse from Pakistan in their first game against Bangladesh, India are hot favourites to win this one. However, with political tensions grumbling in the background, there will be extra bite out on the crease for this one.

Where to watch

Sunday 5th October

In-person:
R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo at 3pm local time

TV:
UK – Sky Sports 10.30am local time
India – Star Sports Network at 3pm local time
Sri Lanka – Maharaja TV at 3pm local time
Pakistan – PTV and Ten Sports at 2.30pm local time
Bangladesh – Nagorik TV and T Sports at 3.30pm local time
South Africa – SuperSport at 11.30am local time
Australia – Amazon Prime Video, check local times
New Zealand – Sky TV NZ, check local times


Check out our guide to the Women’s Cricket World Cup here: https://thenewwomenssportmagazine.com//when-and-where-to-watch-the-cricket-world-cup