Harmanpreet’s India face tricky road as Pakistan challenge awaits

India do not have much room for complacency as they get set to lock horns with Pakistan on Super Sunday (October 6) in the Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 at the Dubai International Stadium. Harmanpreet Kaur and Co. had an outing to forget on Friday (October 4) after losing to Sophie Devine’s New Zealand by 58 runs. Not only did they lose, their net run rate of -2.900 dragged them to the bottom of the points table.
Their star-studded batting line-up faltered as Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh and Deepti Sharma couldn’t make their starts count after getting to double digits. After being asked to chase down 161, they had to record their highest successful run-chase in the history of the mega event. But instead, they crumbled for 102 in 19 overs.
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Earlier, India also stuttered in the fielding department as Richa dropped a catch while Renuka Singh conceded a four after the ball slipped through her hands. However, Renuka bowled well with figures of 4-0-27-0. Asha Sobhana was also effective, but Pooja Vastrakar bowling only a solitary over raised eyebrows as she was in stupendous form before the World Cup began.
India find themselves in a precarious position as even wins in all three of their remaining matches won’t guarantee them a place in the semi-finals. New Zealand and Australia are the strongest contenders along with India to make their way beyond the group stages.
Assistant coach Avishkar Salvi has backed India to make a comeback after the hammering against New Zealand. He said that the women’s team needs to show unity and go out firing to turn their campaign around.
“Yeah obviously, yesterday, whatever happened, tomorrow it’s a fresh opportunity for us. So obviously girls have gone through the process, they have gone through the grind, they have gone through this before as well. So, we only tell them to stay strong, stay united and just believe in our abilities, believe in your plans, and get back to it,” Salvi said in the pre-match press conference.
Pakistan, on the other hand, came into the World Cup after losing 2-1 to Laura Wolvaardt’s South Africa at home. Making it tougher for them, they lost to Scotland and Bangladesh in the warm-ups. It seemed that the decision to appoint Fatima Sana as captain, replacing Nida Dar, seemed to have backfired. But Pakistan put their best foot forward and secured a comprehensive 31-run win over Sri Lanka.
Captain Fatima led from the front to win the Player of the Match award. After opting to bat first, Pakistan once struggled at 74 for seven, but Fatima’s 20-ball knock of 30 helped them post a respectable score of 116. Nida, one of their enigmatic all-rounders, also did her bit after scoring 23 runs before Udeshika Prabodhani accounted for her wicket.
Fatima also put her hands up in the bowling department. She got the big wicket of Chamari Athapaththu, who unsuccessfully tried to clear the in-field on the off-side. Pakistan suffered a huge blow after Diana Baig tweaked her calf in her run-up and had to be carried off the park after only a solitary ball.
Fatima bowled the remaining five balls of the over. If Baig doesn’t get it, Pakistan have Tasmia Rubab as their other pace-bowling option. Syeda Aroob Shah is also there if Sana’s women add another spinner in their playing XI.
Skipper Fatima, in the meantime, asked Pakistan to not get overawed by the pressure of an India-Pakistan clash. Rather, she wanted her team to stay calm and absorb the pressure.
“There is no such pressure, but yes, because there will be a crowd and the atmosphere will be like this, so there will be a little pressure on the girls. But we will try to be calm and not take much pressure. When we take pressure, it doesn’t go in our favour. We will try to be calm and handle the situation as well as we can,” Fatima said.
India and Pakistan have faced each other 15 times in Women’s T20Is. India have a massive 12-3 lead over their opponents. In the T20 World Cups, India lead Pakistan 5-2. In their previous meeting, India beat Pakistan by seven wickets at the Newlands in Cape Town.
India
Shafali Verma, Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (wk), Deepti Sharma, Arundhati Reddy, Pooja Vastrakar, Shreyanka Patil/Radha Yadav, Asha Sobhana, Renuka Thakur Singh
Pakistan
Muneeba Ali (wk), Gull Feroza, Sidra Amin, Nida Dar, Aliya Riaz, Omaima Sohail, Fatima Sana (c), Tuba Hassan, Nashra Sandhu, Tasmia Rubab/Syeda Aroob Shah, Sadia Iqbal
Given their current scenario, India are expected to come out firing on all cylinders. Harmanpreet’s women will go into the game as favourites, although Pakistan should not be undermined.