Birmingham, 13 June

A well-balanced India will need openers Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma to fire from all cylinders against a tricky Pakistan to make a bright beginning to their campaign in the ICC Women's T20 World Cup here on Sunday.

Led by Harmanpreet Kaur, India is looking to add a second global title to their showcase after winning the 50-over version last year, and the head-to-head stats heavily favours them against cross-border rivals.

India enjoys an overwhelming 13-3 lead in the shortest format, and, in fact, their previous meeting was in the 2024 T20 World Cup in Dubai, which India won by six wickets.

From that day, India has grown into a more consistent and robust white-ball unit, which is reflected in their ODI World Cup victory, and almost the same squad will lead India's quest for a T20 crown.

India has been in reasonable form too in the run-up to the event. They have beaten Australia (2-1) and England (3-2) away from home, while drubbing Sri Lanka (5-0) at home, underlining their all-weather abilities.

However, they also received timely wake-up calls during their defeats to South Africa (4-1) and England (2-1) in away series.

Runs from openers mandatory 

It revealed the need for India to have a stronger opening alliance between vice-captain Mandhana and her partner, Shafali.

After an 82 against the Aussies at Adelaide in February, Mandhana's next six outings produced 13, 12, 37, 0, 32 and 8.

Shafali offers a similar story. After her 64 against South Africa at Johannesburg, the right-hander could only make 9, 4, 2, 22 and 11 in the next five innings.

India will require them in full flow against a Pakistan attack led by their effervescent skipper Fatima Sana.

Sana has been in brilliant form of late as she averages over 50 with the bat and less than 25 with the ball in the last year or so.

The 24-year-old had blasted the fastest fifty in the Women's T20Is off just 15 balls against Zimbabwe recently in Karachi, and she is certain to give some worries to the Indian bowling unit which does not have injured Amanjot Kaur and Kashvee Gautam.

But Harmanpreet has returned to form with a couple of fifties against South Africa and England, which will be a big boost to the middle-order.

Apart from the captain, India will also bank on Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh and Bharti Fulmali to keep the run-flow against a capable Pakistan bowling line-up that also features frugal left-arm spinner Nashra Sandhu.

Wicketkeeper batter Yastika Bhatia was India's leading scorer against England in the recent three-match series, but the 25-year-old will want to improve her strike-rate from the current 99.

Seasoned all-rounder Deepti Sharma too will have to contribute substantially with both bat and ball here, even if the conditions are not exactly favourable for her off-spin.

Teams (from)

India: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Bharti Fulmali, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh, Shree Charani, Yastika Bhatia, Nandani Sharma, Arundhati Reddy, Renuka Singh, Kranti Gaud, Shreyanka Patil, Radha Yadav.

Pakistan: Fatima Sana (c), Gull Feroza, Ayesha Zafar, Iram Javed, Eyman Fatima, Aliya Riaz, Natalia Parvaiz, Saira Jabeen, Muneeba Ali, Tuba Hassan, Rameen Shamim, Sadia Iqbal, Nashra Sandhu, Diana Baig, Tasmia Rubab.

The match starts at 7 pm IST.