Pakistan will skip opening ceremony in India. Photo: AP
India will host the upcoming edition of the Women’s ODI World Cup. The grand event will kick off on September 30. The final of the ICC event will take place on November 2. Ahead of the tournament opener between India and Sri Lanka, there will be a grand opening ceremony at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati. Legendary singer Shreyas Ghoshal will perform at the grand event. All the captains will be in Guwahati for the opening ceremony, press conference and photoshoot for the ICC event.
However, the Pakistan Women’s cricket team will skip the opening ceremony in India. Geo Super has reported that neither the Pakistan captain nor any other official will travel to India. The Women in Green will play their matches in Sri Lanka.
The update doesn’t come as a surprise as there was uncertainty around Rohit Sharma travelling to Pakistan for any official event before the 2025 Champions Trophy. In the end, there was no captains’ meet or the photoshoot before the ICC event, which Pakistan hosted. India played their matches in UAE. They defeated New Zealand in the final.
There will be an opening ceremony before the 2025 Women’s World Cup, irrespective of whether Pakistan decide to attend it or not. The Fatima Sana-led side will play its matches at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.
They will kick off their campaign against Bangladesh on October 2. Harmanpreet Kaur-led India will travel to Sri Lanka to take on Pakistan on October 5. Pakistan will face Australia, England, New Zealand, South Africa and Sri Lanka in their next league stage matches on October 8, 15, 18, 21 and 24, respectively. The semi-final and final will be shifted to Sri Lanka if Pakistan manage to make it to that stage.
Pakistan’s squad for 2025 ODI World Cup: Fatima Sana (Captain), Muneeba Ali Siddiqui (Vice-captain), Aliya Riaz, Diana Baig, Eyman Fatima, Nashra Sundhu, Natalia Parvaiz, Omaima Sohail, Rameen Shamim, Sadaf Shamas, Sadia Iqbal, Shawaal Zulfiqar, Sidra Amin, Sidra Nawaz, Syeda Aroob Shah.