India, holders of the ODI World Cup title, will start their campaign in the Women’s T20 World Cup with a highly anticipated fixture against their arch-rivals. The team ended a prolonged streak of misfortune at the toss by securing their first T20I toss victory after eight consecutive losses and their first on English soil following 12 successive defeats since 2022.

“We will bat first. I think it’s a very good pitch to bat on, so we just thought, let’s bat and set a decent total on the board,” Kaur said during the toss. Asked if winning the World Cup had boosted their confidence, she added, “Well, I think we are all very excited. The last World Cup definitely gave us a lot of confidence, and we just want to carry that confidence to this World Cup.”

Reflecting on the team’s preparation, she stated, “Yes, definitely. We have plugged a lot of areas, and now it’s only about playing good cricket, and we are looking forward to that. Bharti’s playing today. And yeah, Yastika did really well, but today we thought of going with Bharti. We are going with three spinners and two medium pacers.”

Pakistan captain Fatima Sana commented on the toss outcome: “I think if we had won the toss, we were going to bat first as well because it looks like a batting track.” On their team’s performance, she said, “Yeah, I think as a team, we are doing great in the batting and the bowling as well. So we know we have a good bowling unit, so we just need to improve on the batting side, so we are good to go.” Regarding the bowling approach, Sana added, “Yeah, obviously, it looks like a batting track, but still, we have a good bowling unit. We have a good, experienced bowling attack, so I think it will be a good contest.” When asked about team selection, she confirmed, “Yeah, we are going with Saira. She will be playing in the World Cup for the first time.”

The playing XI for India Women includes Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur (captain), Bharti Fulmali, Richa Ghosh (wicketkeeper), Deepti Sharma, Arundhati Reddy, Shreyanka Patil, Shree Charani, and Kranti Gaud.

Pakistan Women’s starting XI consists of Gull Feroza, Muneeba Ali (wicketkeeper), Ayesha Zafar, Saira Jabeen, Aliya Riaz, Natalia Pervaiz, Fatima Sana (captain), Rameen Shamim, Nashra Sandhu, Tasmia Rubab, and Sadia Iqbal.

This story is written by TNM Bureau with inputs from ANI. The News Mill is a Guwahati-based digital media with focus on content from across Northeast India and beyond. We can be reached through [email protected]