Mount Maunganui: India, who finished second in the ICC Women’s World Cup in 2017 and 2005, will be looking to go one step further and win their maiden trophy, especially when skipper Mithali Raj and veteran pacer Jhulan Goswami will be playing their last World Cup. On Sunday in New Zealand, at 6:30 am IST, the Women in Blue will play arch-rivals Pakistan in their first encounter in their quest for the elusive trophy.
The Indian team arrived in New Zealand a month ahead of schedule to get used to the weather. The bowlers, on the other hand, struggled in comparison to the batting line, which scored more than 250 runs five times in seven 50-over matches, including two warm-up matches.
The bowling unit let the team down throughout the series against New Zealand, which India lost 1-4. It failed to defend 270 plus targets in two games while conceding a mammoth 191 in 20 overs in a rain-curtailed match of the ODI series. Thus, Raj would be hoping for her bowlers to find top form to complement a solid batting unit’s efforts throughout the campaign.
“From the past series or the warm up games, all we can take is confidence, and how you negotiate the conditions in the middle, how you play according to the situation is just very important,” Raj in the pre-match press conference.
While veteran player Goswami and spinner Sharma will lead the bowling attack, Meghna Singh, Pooja Vastrakar, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, and Renuka Singh will need to do more to assist them. Meanwhile, the focus would be on opener Shafali Verma to deliver a solid start alongside Smriti Mandhana, a batter in fine form.
Raj, who would continue to anchor the Indian innings, has hinted that Deepti, who has been in good nick with the bat and ball, will be batting at the top at either number 3 or 4 while Harmanpreet Kaur is expected to bat at five. Rich Ghosh would be poised to start ahead of Taniya Bhatia following scoring back-to-back half-centuries against New Zealand.
Pakistan, on the other hand, are the tournament’s lowest-ranked squad. After the qualifiers were canceled in the middle of last year due to COVID-19, they qualified for the World Cup based on their ranking.
Pakistan’s best-ever World Cup finish came in 2009 when they reached the Super 6 stage after finishing bottom three times. They’ll be attempting to advance to the knockout rounds this time around.
Bismah Maroof and Co. are also coming off back-to-back wins in the warm up matches. They beat New Zealand before getting the better of Bangladesh.
While they won the two games, it was the lower order and the bowlers that saved them. Pakistan would thus hope its top order can fire.
“The things we have not gone well in the last year we have spoken about it…whoever takes the pressure well that team will win; so we are hoping for a good match tomorrow,” Pakistan Bismah Maroof said on Saturday.
Squads:
India: Mithali Raj (c), Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Harmanpreet Kaur, Yastika Bhatia, Deepti Sharma, Pooja Vastrakar, Rich Ghosh (wk), Taniya Bhatia (wk), Sneh Rana, Meghna Singh, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Poonam Yadav, Jhulan Goswami, Renuka Singh.
Pakistan: Aliya Riaz, Javeria Khan, Muneeba Ali (wk), Nahida Khan, Bismah Maroof (c), Sidra Ameen, Nida Dar, Anam Amin, Omaima Sohail, Sidra Nawaz (wk), Aiman Anwer, Diana Baig, Fatima Sana, Ghulam Fatima, Nashra Sandhu.
