The media manager for Indian Women had to participate in one of the pre-match press conferences on Saturday, October 4.
A Pakistani journalist was repeatedly told that no questions about tensions between India and Pakistan during the Asia Cup 2025, or anything linked to them, would be addressed.
Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur did not attend the press conference. Instead, bowling instructor Aavishkar Salvi had come to attend the ceremony. The journalist not only enquired about how things may play out between the women’s teams, but also followed up with another inquiry along those lines.
“I had a question for the Indian captain, but since you’re here, I’ll ask you instead. We’ve seen that the women’s teams of both Pakistan and India share good camaraderie, at least leading up to this World Cup. So, do you think the bitterness from the Asia Cup might carry over to the women’s teams as well?” the journalist asked, as quoted by Hindustan Times.
The media manager had involve herself as soon as the follow-up query was asked. Her stance was that no one from the Indian setup would be entertaining such queries.
“Hi, just a reminder — we said we wouldn’t be taking that first question, so let’s move on to the next one,” she firmly mentioned.
For the unversed, India and Pakistan squared off thrice in the recently-concluded men’s continental tournament. The contests were fraught with handshake sagas, on-field aggression and immensely critical comments passed off the ground. The Men in Blue defeated Pakistan by five wickets in the final to win the tournament for the ninth time.
The Women in Blue have an unblemished record against their rivals. They are yet to lose a game in the 11 ODIs in which they have come face to face. India are coming off a 59-run win against co-hosts Sri Lanka, while Pakistan will enter the upcoming fixture after suffering a seven-wicket defeat to Bangladesh.
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