Women’s T20 World Cup 2023: Harmanpreet Kaur’s India favorites but Pakistan aren’t mere pushovers

India and Pakistan are all set to go up against each other in the Group B match of the Women’s T20 World Cup 2023 on Sunday, February 12 at the Newlands in Cape Town.

India have their fair share of concerns going into their tournament. It’s highly unlikely that Smriti Mandhana will play against the arch-rivals after she sustained a finger injury in the warm-up match against Australia, where she also failed to get off the mark.

But there’s good news for the Women in Blue after skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, who had issues with her back, was declared fit for the marquee clash.

India started their campaign in South Africa with a disastrous performance with the bat against Meg Lanning’s Australia. But they made amends after beating Nigar Sultana Joty’s Bangladesh in the second warm-up match.

Shikha Pandey went wicket-less in the T20I tri-nation series, but stand-in coach, Hrishikesh Kanitkar, reckoned that the all-rounder brings in valuable experience.

Pakistan skipper Bismah Maroof, in the meantime, beat Bangladesh in their first warm-up match before losing to Sune Luus’ South Africa in the second.

They are without their primary fast bowler, Diana Baig, who failed to recover in time from her finger injury. But Maroof said that it’s the spinners, Tuba Hassan, Nashra Sandhu and Nida Dar, who could make the difference in the marquee clash.

Nida Dar became the Player of the Match when the two sides last met in an Asia Cup 2022 match in Sylhet. The veteran hit a half-century and picked up two wickets as Pakistan secured a 13-run win against the odds.

Head to Head
Overall

Matches – 13, India – 10, Pakistan – 3

In T20 World Cups

Matches – 6, India – 4, Pakistan – 2

Players to watch out for
Richa Ghosh (India)

Richa Ghosh has been in incredible form of late. Although she couldn’t perform in the U19 Women’s T20 World Cup, the 19-year-old has already played quite a few knocks of substance at the highest level. She failed to score against the Aussies in India’s first practice match, but scored 91 with nine sixes against Bangladesh.

Nida Dar (Pakistan)

Nida Dar is expected to be Pakistan’s trump card in the World Cup because of the amount of experience she has. She didn’t play against South Africa, but scored an unbeaten 24 and picked up two wickets in Pakistan’s other warm-up match against Bangladesh. Dar has 121 wickets and 1616 runs in T20Is to her name.

Probable XIs

India

Shafali Verma, Yastika Bhatia, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Richa Ghosh, Devika Vaidya, Deepti Sharma, Pooja Vastrakar, Renuka Singh, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Anjali Sarvani

Pakistan

Sidra Ameen, Muneeba Ali, Bismah Maroof (C), Omaima Sohail, Nida Dar, Aliya Riaz, Sidra Nawaz (wk), Fatima Sana, Nashra Sandhu, Tuba Hassan, Aiman Anwer/Sadia Iqbal