Women’s World Cup 2025: ‘Won't entertain anything else apart from cricket’ - India's Harmanpreet Kaur for Pakistan clash

Published - 27 Sept 2025, 16:21 IST | Updated - 27 Sept 2025, 16:25 IST

India Women team captain Harmanpreet Kaur, who will lead the side in the upcoming ICC Women's ODI World Cup 2025, stated that her side will remain focused solely on cricket and will not be distracted by matters on or off the field, when asked about the upcoming clash against Pakistan amid rising tensions between the two men’s teams.

Ahead of the tournament opener between India and Sri Lanka, all participating captains attended the Captains Day events, held simultaneously in Bengaluru and Colombo. While four captains were present in Bengaluru, the other four joined in Colombo. During the interaction, Kaur was asked about her perspective on facing Pakistan, given the recent incidents involving the men’s teams in the Asia Cup 2025.

“Right now, our main focus is on the opening game because that is very important. The opening game is always very important for any team. Our focus is on that because that game is going to set the tone for us. Secondly, all the teams are equally important. We can only control things that we can control. We're here to play cricket, and our main focus is on cricket. We're not going to entertain anything else on the field because we're here to play the game, and our focus will remain on playing cricket,” Kaur said, as quoted by NDTV.

For the uninitiated, the recent Asia Cup 2025 fixtures between the men’s teams of India and Pakistan sparked multiple controversies, prompting the International Cricket Council (ICC) to step in and issue reprimands to players from both sides. The two men’s teams are now set to meet again in the final in Dubai on Sunday, just days before Kaur leads the Women in Blue to their World Cup opener against Sri Lanka in Guwahati on September 30.

As part of the tournament, the much-anticipated India–Pakistan women’s clash is scheduled to take place at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on October 5, adding to the excitement of the upcoming premier 50-over global tournament.