Cape Town: The Indian women’s cricket team, which has been longing for the ICC title for a long time, will take on Pakistan in the first match of the T20 World Cup on Sunday, then its intention will be to end the wait this time. The match between India and Pakistan is always exciting but due to the superiority of the Indian team, it might not live up to the expectations. Pakistan, however, defeated India in the Asia Cup last year when the Indian team over-experimented. In the last five years, there has been a stark difference between the two teams. The Indian team is constantly challenging the dominance of Australia and England, while the Pakistani women’s team could not do much.
The match, which will be held a day before the auction of the first Women’s Premier League, will provide additional motivation for the Indian players, but some may also lose focus. There are also doubts about the fitness of Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur and opener Smriti Mandhana, who are nursing shoulder and finger injuries respectively. A decision about his playing will be taken after the practice session on Saturday. A BCCI source said, “Both are senior players and very important for the team. If there is even the slightest doubt about his fitness, we will not take chances as it is only the first match. India has recently been defeated by South Africa in the final of the tri-series.
read this also
Also lost to Australia in practice match but beat Bangladesh. There is a strong possibility of the Indian team reaching the semi-finals but they will have to perform at their best to beat Australia. There is no confidence in the bowlers except Renuka Singh. Veteran Shikha Pandey hasn’t taken a single wicket since her return last month. The performance of the spinners was also not as expected. At the same time, Harmanpreet and Mandhana need support from the other end in batting.
Shafali Verma, who recently won the Under-19 World Cup, would like to answer her critics by performing consistently. A good inning is also expected from Jemimah Rodrigues. Bowling all-rounder Pooja Vastrakar’s role will be crucial while Richa Ghosh will have to perform well in the death overs. It will be very important for Pakistan at Nida rate. Pakistan recently played a series in Australia and beat Bangladesh in the warm-up match but lost to South Africa.
Teams :
India: Harmanpreet Kaur (Captain), Smriti Mandhana, Shefali Verma, Yastika Bhatia, Richa Ghosh, Jemima Rodrigues, Harleen Deol, Deepti Sharma, Devika Vaidya, Radha Yadav, Renuka Thakur, Anjali Sarwani, Pooja Vastrakar, Rajeshwari Gaikwad, Shikha Pandey.
Pakistan: Bismah Maroof (Captain), Aiman Anwar, Alia Riaz, Ayesha Naseem, Sadaf Shamas, Fatima Sana, Javeria Wadud, Muneeba Ali, Nashra Sundhu, Nida Dar, Omaima Sohail, Sadia Iqbal, Sidra Amin, Sidra Nawaz, Tuba Hasan.