Experience will help Indian Women handle pressure against Pakistan in CWC clash: Saba Karim

New Delhi : Former Indian cricketer Saba Karim believes that India’s match against Pakistan in the Women’s World Cup on Sunday will come with pressure, given the rivalry between the two teams.
He also believed the Indian team is well-prepared to handle the pressure, having played Pakistan before and performed well.
“There will be pressure. That’s why India vs Pakistan has become such a big clash, even in the Women’s World Cup. Otherwise, it wouldn’t matter as much. India has played Pakistan before and generally done well. However, due to the controversies that surround such matches, I’m sure the Indian team management and players have prepared simulations to perform under pressure. The best approach for India and the team management is to remove all outside distractions and focus on the game ahead. I’m confident that, with the experience of the Indian players and support staff, the team will put up a strong performance without being affected by any controversies. That said, I do agree that some pressure will exist for the Indian side,” Saba Karim said on JioHotstar.
The Indian team, which kick-started the campaign with a 59-run win over Sri Lanka, will have their second match of the campaign against Pakistan, which endured a humiliating defeat in its campaign opener against Bangladesh. India has never lost to Pakistan in the women’s 50-over World Cup, having won all four of their clashes so far.
This follows three India-Pakistan clashes during the men’s Asia Cup won by Men in Blue, which saw plenty of off-the-field controversies, such as the ‘handshake row’ where Team India did not shake hands with Pakistani players, and the Indian players not taking the Asia Cup trophy from the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), Mohsin Naqvi, who is also Pakistan’s Interior Minister.
Indian squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Pratika Rawal, Harleen Deol, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh, Uma Chetry, Renuka Singh Thakur, Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, Sree Charani, Radha Yadav, Amanjot Kaur, Arundhati Reddy, Kranti Gaud. Reserves: Tejal Hasabnis, Prema Rawat, Priya Mishra, Minnu Mani, Sayali Satghare.