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India lock horns with Pakistan in high-voltage clash as Bismah Maroof-led side won the toss and elected to batting first in their Women's T20 World Cup opener at the Newlands Cricket Ground in South Africa on Sunday (February 12).
Meanwhile, India will be without their star opener Smriti Mandhana for their Women's T20 World Cup opening after she sustained a finger injury. However, skipper Harmanpreet included Harleen Deol in India's playing XI as Mandhana's replacement.
India captain Harmanpreet Kaur said, “We wanted to bat because these wickets are a bit tricky. She will be fine but we have added an extra batter for today - Harleen in there, Shikha misses out. I think these wickets will help us, we are a very good bowling side.”
“We'd like to bat first. It is a dry wicket, won't change much so we'd like to put up a total. It is unlucky she is not here with us, but this is an opportunity for someone else to perform. We have the confidence because we won against India last time but conditions are different here,” captain Bismah Maroof said after winning the toss.
Head-to-head T20Is: India women vs Pakistan women
Historically, the two sides have clashed on 13 occasions in T20Is. India have an upper hand with 10 wins and three losses.
Talking exclusively about the Women's T20 World Cup, the two sides have faced off six times. Once again, India has a better head-to-head record than their counterparts. India have beaten the arch-rivals on four instances and have been defeated only twice.
Out of seven editions of the Women's T20 World Cup, two sides did not clash only once, and that was in the 2020 Women's T20 World Cup. Let us look back at how those six encounters have fared.
India Women (Playing XI): Shafali Verma, Yastika Bhatia, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harleen Deol, Harmanpreet Kaur(c), Richa Ghosh(w), Deepti Sharma, Pooja Vastrakar, Radha Yadav, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Renuka Thakur Singh.
Pakistan Women (Playing XI): Javeria Khan, Muneeba Ali(w), Bismah Maroof(c), Nida Dar, Sidra Ameen, Aliya Riaz, Ayesha Naseem, Fatima Sana, Aiman Anwer, Nashra Sandhu, Sadia Iqbal.
