Spirit of cricket past India and Pakistan using the game as a political lever and weapon of proxy war

It is mere years that women in the subcontinent have been taken seriously as cricketers.

- Emma John

For generations, they faced scorn, disapproval, ostracism - even the threat of violence - to pursue their passion. Now India is hosting a World Cup in which the prize fund is $13.8m (£10.3m) and the home nation's players will become national treasures if they secure their first tournament victory.

It would, then, be a travesty if this weekend's talk focused on their male counterparts. And yet, when India face Pakistan on Sunday, comparison is unavoidable. And not because the home side are highly favoured to triumph, but because they are not expected to shake hands with their opposition.

Handshakegate, if we must call it that, will have a fourth instalment.

If you missed the drama, it came at the end of the men's group match between India and Pakistan at the Asia Cup last month when the India captain, Suryakumar Yadav, and his team disappeared off the field to avoid the usual friendly post-match ritual. Two sequels followed in the Super4 match and the final, climaxing in a long-delayed presentation ceremony where the new champions refused to accept the trophy from the Pakistan Cricket Board's chair, Mohsin Naqvi.

It would have been comic if it hadn't been so tragic.

Those following the women's World Cup might well have hoped for, and even pictured, a different approach on Sunday. Women's sport is supposed to offer a new blueprint for the industry and an alternative to toxic legacies. The sight of Harmanpreet Kaur's players extending the fingers of friendship to Fatima Sana and her team would have made a powerful statement in an increasingly divided world.