On November 2, 2025, Indian women’s cricket reached its pinnacle when they won their maiden World Cup. To make it sweeter, they did so on home soil, beating the mighty Aussies in the semi-final and the ever-consistent South African team in the final in Navi Mumbai. The action now shifts to the T20 World Cup, where they have not had much luck. They came close in 2020, but they were soundly beaten by a dominant Aussie side in front of a packed MCG.
Six years later, they have a chance to go one step ahead and have a chance to hold both white-ball World Cups simultaneously.
Their first hurdle in this quest are arch-rivals Pakistan, who have never made it to the knockout stages of the Women’s T20 World Cup. Against India, they have tasted victory just twice in the World Cup, but have lost the last three matches at this event against them.
Having gone all the way in 2025, there’s little doubt that Harmanpreet Kaur’s side will be hungrier than ever to get their hands on the T20 World Cup as well.
As far as recent form is concerned, both India and Pakistan have a cause for concern.
Recent form (Latest first)
India Women: L,L,W,L,W
Pakistan Women: NR,L,L,W,W
Conditions
Edgbaston has been a batting paradise, as England showed in their opening game against Sri Lanka. They piled on 219/1 with Danni Wyatt-Hodge slamming a sublime ton. However, with rain playing hide and seek, the captain winning the toss might be tempted to bowl first, as Sri Lankan skipper Chamari Athapaththu did. With overcast conditions, we can expect the pacers to have a field day, especially early on, with plenty of swing on offer.
However, spinners too will come into the game, potentially at the latter stages, with the wear and turn of the pitch kicking in.
The good news is rain is expected to stay away for the duration of the match, with temperatures hovering between 18-19°C.
Players to watch out for
Mandhana-Shafali partnership: The Smriti Mandhana-Shafali Verma partnership has been prolific recently. In fact, since 2025, they have put on 762 runs together at an average of 42.22, including six 50-plus stands in 18 innings. Moreover, they have scored at nearly nine an over, making it deadlier.
All-round Sana: One cannot look past the importance of Fatima Sana in this Pakistan side. As someone who leads from the front, Sana’s contribution with both bat and ball cannot be overlooked. She has scored 335 runs at an impressive strike rate of 183.06 since the last T20 World Cup. With the ball, she has the most wickets (13) in this period for Pakistan after Sadia Iqbal.
Injury updates
India have a full squad to pick from for their opening match, as confirmed by Harmanpreet Kaur. However, Pakistan captain Fatima Sana took a blow to the knee at the nets, but is expected to play against India.
Captain speak
“I think obviously we all are ready and we know that the condition is— because we are here since almost 2 weeks because we were played the series against Ireland as well in Ireland. So I think we all are ready. We just need to execute better plans and we need to be more calm in that situation because they are will be a pressure match and everyone knows,” Fatima Sana, Pakistan Women captain
“We are all very excited, it’s a very big tournament for all of us and we’re all looking forward to it. Everyone is very excited for the first game, because the first game is always important and, it’s often said that the first game sets the tone, and I think we all are looking forward to the first game,” Harmanpreet Kaur, India Women captain.
Likely XI:
India Women: Shafali Verma, Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur, Richa Ghosh, Bharti Fulmali, Deepti Sharma, Arundhati Reddy, Shree Charani, Shreyanka Patil, Renuka Thakur
Pakistan Women: Muneeba Ali (wk), Gull Feroza, Ayesha Zafar, Saira Jabeen, Fatima Sana (c), Aliya Riaz, Iram Javed, Rameen Shamim, Diana Baig, Nashra Sandhu, Said Iqbal
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