India not thinking about whether to shake hands with Pakistan during the Women’s World Cup: Deepti Sharma

It is not just the Asia Cup that features an India-Pakistan face-off. In the women’s Cricket World Cup, too, the neighbouring rivals are scheduled to square off.

That match is going to be held in Colombo on October 5. When Deepti Sharma was asked, on the eve of the second women’s ODI against Australia here, whether the players would refuse to shake hands with their Pakistani counterparts – like the men did in Dubai – she said she wasn’t thinking about it at all.

“That match is far away, and when it happens, we will see what to do,” the spin-bowling all-rounder said on Tuesday. “We are not focusing on the Asia Cup at the moment… our focus is on this series.”

India was outplayed by its formidable rival in the opening ODI, but Deepti expressed confidence that the team could bounce back in the series. “We would rather take the positives away from the match, like the partnerships we had in our inning and the small things we were able to do well,” she said. “And we don’t think there is much of a gap between Australia and India. We always play to win.”

Beth Mooney, who smashed an unbeaten 77 off 74 balls in the first ODI, said India had put Australia under pressure with the opening partnership.

“It took us a while to drag that momentum back, which we did with some amazing fielding by Phoebe Litchfield,” she said. “There is no easy game in international cricket any more”.