Women's T20 World Cup 2023: India eye glory as Women in Blue face Pakistan in opener

Women's T20 World Cup 2023: About two weeks after India's U-19 Women's team scripted history in the inaugural edition of the U-19 Women's T20 World Cup, the senior Indian girls have the chance to clinch glory in the T20 World Cup 2023. The Women in Blue were the runners-up in the 2020 edition but fell one step short of the title against Australia. Having a strong team, the women's side has a chance to beat any team on their day.

However, the Women in Blue are facing injury issues as Harmanpreet Kaur (shoulder) and Smriti Mandhana (finger) recently got injured. The team's stand-in coach Hrishikesh Kanitkar stated that Mandhana will most likely miss the match against Pakistan, while Harmanpreet is fit to play. India and Pakistan are two dominant forces in cricket but Indian women are way stronger than the Pakistan women's side. Even though Pakistan women defeated them in their last meeting in the Asia Cup, Indian women have great records against them and have won 10 matches out of 13.

India women have players of great strength but also have their own issues to be sorted. Shafali Verma, fresh on her U-19 World Cup exploits, needs to perform consistently at the top. Harmanpreet and Mandhana have been batting well but need support from other batters, while Jemimah Rodrigues also needs to perform well. Richa Ghosh is famed as a big hitter and her cameos will be crucial in the death stages. The bowling group is led by inform Renuka Thakur but others need to put their hand up. Veteran Shikha Pandey has not scalped a wicket since her return, while the spinners looked off touch lately. India and Pakistan are placed in Group B of the points table which also features West Indies, Ireland and England. 

India's squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Yastika Bhatia, Richa Ghosh, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harleen Deol, Deepti Sharma, Devika Vaidya, Radha Yadav, Renuka Thakur, Anjali Sarvani, Pooja Vastrakar, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Shikha Pandey.

Pakistan's squad: Bismah Maroof (c), Aiman Anwar, Aliya Riaz, Ayesha Naseem, Sadaf Shamas, Fatima Sana, Javeria Wadood, Muneeba Ali, Nashra Sundhu, Nida Dar, Omaima Sohail, Sadia Iqbal, Sidra Amin, Sidra Nawaz, Tuba Hassan.