05 October,2024 08:01 AM IST | Dubai | Santosh Suri
India players celebrate a NZ wicket in Dubai on Friday. Pic/Getty Images
An India-Pakistan clash is always a big-ticket game in any ICC tournament and today's match between the two in the Women's T20 World Cup is no exception. Despite India's defeat to New Zealand in their opening game, all tickets have been sold out. A full house should encourage India to make a strong comeback. To stay alive, they are required to win the three remaining games in the Group of Death in which the gun is already on their head.
Nobody would have thought that when the arch-rivals meet here under a hot afternoon sun, the team under pressure would be India. That's because, against all expectations, the Indian women lost their first game by a whopping 58 runs with a disastrous Net Run Rate of -2.900. India have to win their next two matches against sub-continental rivals Pakistan and Sri Lanka by a big margin to improve their NRR before facing Australia in the last league game.
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The defeat to the White Ferns has shaken the Indian team to its core. Due of lacklustre performances in all three departments - bowling, fielding and batting - the players would be under immense pressure. They need to forget Friday's defeat as a bad dream and begin afresh with vigour and confidence. They need to believe in themselves and show resilience. They also must realise that not all is lost and they can still qualify for the semi-finals by winning their three remaining games.
However, it won't be easy as Pakistan are coming into the match after defeating Sri Lanka by 31 runs in a low-scoring game at Sharjah. Led by Fatima Sana, who led the charge with a top score of 30 from 20 balls and two crucial wickets, Pakistan have shown they are no pushovers. However, their biggest challenge will be playing on the much bigger ground in Dubai where the wicket is quite good for batting, unlike in Sharjah, where their bowlers met with success on the low and slow pitch.
It will be interesting to see if the Indian team management will decide to rejig the batting order. Will they persist with skipper Harmanpreet Kaur at No. 3, or will they promote Jemimah Rodrigues in her place? An experienced hand like Harmanpreet would be more useful down the order, especially as the lower-order looks quite vulnerable when under pressure. Besides, the team management may think of making a change or two, preferring spinner Radha Yadav over a pacer and adding Dayalan Hemalatha to bolster the batting. Chief coach Amol Muzumdar will need to take a long, hard look at the combination as another defeat will seriously hamper India's chances of progressing to the last four stage.
Though India have a head-to-head edge over Pakistan in T20Is, winning 12 out of 15 matches, they cannot take the rivals lightly. Pakistan's bowling is quite formidable with the likes of experienced Nida Dhar, captain and Sadia Iqbal leading the pack. One can only hope it's a well-contested game, giving the crowds their money's worth.
15
No. of T20Is India and Pakistan have played against each other. India have won 12, while Pakistan emerged victorious three times
