&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "Women's T20 World Cup: Will Harmanpreet Kaur's team India shake hands with Pakistan? Here's what she said")
Led by Harmanpreet Kaur, India will begin their Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan on Sunday (Jun 14) at Edgbaston. While India have enjoyed the better record in this rivalry, matches between the two teams always attract huge attention both on and off the field. Ahead of the game, one of the main talking points has been whether the players will take part in the traditional pre- or post-match handshake.
Since the Men’s Asia Cup last year, Indian and Pakistani players across both men’s and women’s teams have generally avoided from exchanging handshakes. Similar scenes were witnessed during several major events, including the Women’s World Cup, U19 World Cup, Rising Stars Asia Cup and Men’s T20 World Cup.
Speaking before the match, India captain Harmanpreet Kaur was questioned about the possibility of a handshake and whether the BCCI had provided any guidance on the matter.
“Well, I think we are here for cricket, and we only talk about cricket; except for cricket, we don’t talk about anything, and I don’t even think about anything except cricket. Cricket has been our dream from day one, and we only talk about it. For tomorrow’s game, we are thinking of it as just another game we are going to play," Harmanpreet told reporters.
“Definitely pressure is going to be there, which I earlier agreed to that, whenever we play against Pakistan, pressure will be there, but at the same time it’s only about how we are going to enjoy that pressure because in any International game, pressure is going to be there; it’s only about giving your 100% in that game and enjoying every moment," she added.
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On the field, India enter the game as strong favourites, supported by a strong record and a commanding head-to-head advantage. They have won 13 of the 16 T20Is played against Pakistan and hold a 6-2 edge in Women’s T20 World Cup meetings. Even so, Harmanpreet admitted that matches between the two nations comes with added expectations and pressure.
“I won’t say there’s no pressure; there is pressure. Since I started watching cricket as a supporter, I have felt that pressure, and now that we play, it’s even more. But at the same time, we always say that the more we enjoy this game, the better it is for us, because we are the lucky ones who are picked for this big occasion, and we just want to enjoy ourselves on the field," said Harmanpreet.
