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It has been six days since the men’s T20I Asia Cup concluded, but the tournament-long controversy involving India and Pakistan has now spilt over into the ongoing Women’s World Cup. Ahead of the Harmanpreet Kaur-led side’s face-off against Fatima Sana’s Pakistan at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, tensions flared during India’s pre-match press conference when a Pakistani reporter attempted to raise a question about the Asia Cup incident, only for the Indian media manager to shut it down immediately.
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On Saturday, ahead of India’s clash against Pakistan, bowling coach Avishkar Salvi addressed the media. A journalist from a Pakistani channel asked whether the tension from the recently concluded Asia Cup could impact Sunday’s game, despite the friendly interactions between players in the lead-up to the tournament. The reporter later revealed he had originally intended to direct the question to captain Harmanpreet before learning that Salvi would be attending the presser instead.
“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.
While a second question was also asked, pertaining to the conditions in Sri Lanka, the Indian media manager immediately intervened and stated that such questions would not be answered.
“Hi, just a reminder — we said we wouldn’t be taking that first question, so let’s move on to the next one,” she said.
What had happened between India and Pakistan in Asia Cup?
In the wake of the tensions surrounding the handshake storm, ICC’s rejection of Pakistan’s plea to remove match referee Andy Pycroft from the tournament, and players from both teams facing sanctions from the governing body over their respective acts during their two previous face-offs in the tournament, India and Pakistan locked horns in the final last Sunday in Dubai.
The Suryakumar Yadav-led side once again emerged victorious as they beat Pakistan in a thriller. After the win, India refused to accept the trophy from Asian Cricket Council (ACC) chief Mohsin Naqvi, who is also the PCB chairman and Pakistan’s Interior Minister. Having been at the centre of the handshake storm, where he had openly lashed out at India, the team had decided not to share the closing ceremony platform with Naqvi. After a considerable delay in the start of the final presentation event, post the final, Naqvi also refused to hand over the trophy to India and instead left the venue with the silverware.
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