COLOMBO: Pakistan women’s cricket captain Fatima Sana has said that her team is solely ‘focused’ on the “game”.
Her remarks came ahead of the high-octane ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 match against arch-rivals India, scheduled to be played at the R Premadasa Stadium on Sunday.
The highly anticipated clash between fierce rivals is likely to mirror the tensions witnessed during the recent Asia Cup, where India’s men’s team faced backlash for unsportsmanlike conduct.
Earlier this week, Indian media hinted at the possibility of another handshake snub, heightened drama, and political undertones.
During Pakistan captain Fatima’s pre-match press conference, the ICC Media Manager refrained the reporters from asking political questions and also about the handshake controversy.
However, Fatima was still asked to share whether she would miss the spirit and camaraderie between the two teams, referencing their off-field interactions after their match at the 2022 edition of the mega event, when the Indian players surrounded then Pakistan captain Bismah Maroof and cooed over her six-month-old daughter.
Fatima, who was a part of the national team then, in response, reiterated Pakistan’s stance of fulfilling the spirit but stressed that their primary objective is to ‘stay focused’ on the game.
“Our main goal is to play well. Our relationship with the other teams is good. We will try to fulfil the spirit of the game,” said Fatima.
“What happened before, like with Bismah’s daughter, when everyone mingled and enjoyed together, as players, we all like such moments. But the main thing is to stay focused on what we have come here for,” she added.
The Pakistan captain also dismissed the notion of odds being against them as they trail India by 11-0 in their head-to-head record in the Women’s ODIs and instead stressed that her team has the potential to beat any top side, stating that the records are meant to be broken.
“Firstly, whatever records exist between India and Pakistan, they are meant to be broken. It’s not that Pakistan will never win against them,” Fatima stated.
“We believe in playing good cricket, regardless of who our opponent is. So we won’t dwell on history; we’ll focus only on the day we play. I personally believe that Pakistan has the potential to defeat any top team by playing well in any match. So, you can’t judge yourself with just one match. Everyone’s morale is high.”
Fatima Sana then went on to underline the importance of pressure handling in big games like Pakistan-India and reiterated that they are focused on the upcoming fixture.
“Of course, it’s a match with a lot of pressure. We know that the whole world is watching the India-Pakistan matches. But handling that pressure is the main thing. We will focus on that, play our game, and execute our plans,” Fatima continued.
“Coaches have told us to believe. You can’t define an entire tournament based on one match. We believe we can still win games.”
