Billed as one of the top contenders to win the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2024, India were handed a drubbing by New Zealand in their campaign opener on Friday, October 4. The shellacking has left India languishing in Group A which also comprises six-time champions Australia.
Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur was crestfallen after the 58-run loss to the White Ferns and acknowledged that they didn't play their "best cricket". The India skipper also gave credit to the opposition and took ownership of the mistakes made while fielding.
"We didn't play our best cricket. Going forward we know every game is important. We created chances but we were not able to avail those chances. They played better cricket than us, no doubt about that. Fielding we made some mistakes so that is a learning for us going forward. (Target) We have chased many times 160-170, we were expecting that on the board. While batting, we knew someone had to bat through but we kept losing wickets. [Pakistan next] We know this group is capable of better, this wasn't the start we were expecting but we have to go from here," Harmanpreet said after the humiliating loss in Dubai.
Meanwhile, Pakistan are on a high after beating the reigning Asia Cup champions Sri Lanka in their tournament opener. Fatima Sana led them from the front and bagged the Player of the Match (POTM) for her all-round effort. Sana can be a threat to India on Sunday as she is known to biff the ball hard and can make early inroads in the rival's batting order.
India vs Pakistan head-to-head record in ICC Women's T20 World Cup history
India and Pakistan have played seven matches against each other in the ICC Women's T20 World Cup history. India have had the upper hand over their arch-rivals as they have won five out of the seven games whereas Pakistan have only beaten India twice in the marquee tournament.
India Women squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Yastika Bhatia (wk), Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (wk), Pooja Vastrakar, Arundhati Reddy, Renuka Singh, D Hemalatha, Asha Sobhana, Radha Yadav, Shreyanka Patil, Sajeevan Sajana
Pakistan Women Squad: Muneeba Ali (wk), Gull Feroza, Sidra Amin, Nida Dar, Fatima Sana (c), Aliya Riaz, Tuba Hassan, Sadaf Shamas, Nashra Sandhu, Diana Baig, Iram Javed, Omaima Sohail, Syeda Aroob Shah, Tasmia Rubab
